Lyft founders step down; former Amazon exec David Risher named CEO in executive shake-up

Lyft’s co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer are stepping down from the company they founded over a decade ago. Green, who is currently the CEO, will be succeeded by former Amazon exec David Risher effective April 17.

In an announcement on Monday, Lyft said that Zimmer, the company’s current president, will also step down from his role as of June 30. The two co-founders will stay on at Lyft in non-executive roles as chair and vice chair of the Lyft board, respectively. Lyft has not named any replacement for Zimmer.

In their board and adviser roles, Green and Zimmer will focus on supporting a seamless transition of responsibilities to Mr. Risher and the continued growth of the company’s mission, Lyft said. Sean Aggarwal, current Lyft board chair, will transition to the role of lead independent director, the ridesharing company said in a statement.

Lyft highlighted Risher’s past leadership roles at Amazon and Microsoft, even though his LinkedIn profile indicates that he has not been employed by either company for the past 20 years. According to Lyft’s statement, Risher was Amazon’s 37th employee and served as the company’s inaugural head of product and head of US retail.

In addition, Risher has been a member of the Lyft board since July 2021 and has spent the past 13 years working at a nonprofit he co-founded aimed at getting children to read more.

“I am honored to step into the CEO role at such an important moment in the company’s history, and am prepared to take this business to new levels of success,” Risher said in a statement.

“Building Lyft with John over the last 16 years has been the adventure of a lifetime,” said Mr. Green. “Billions of rides later, our industry is defined by the model of ridesharing that Lyft pioneered. All founders eventually find the right moment to step back and the right leaders to take their company forward. In a field of accomplished candidates, David stood head and shoulders above the rest. As a member of the board, he knows both the challenges and opportunities ahead. David has the right energy, ambition, and experience to lead Lyft into the future. Leaders in our industry who worked with David affirmed that he’s a customer-obsessed leader who drives hard — when David left Amazon, Jeff Bezos publicly thanked him, vowing to ‘build on the foundation you helped pour.’ David is the absolute right person to build on our foundation.”

Founded in 2012 by John Zimmer and Logan Green, the San Francisco, California-based Lyft is a peer-to-peer transportation platform founded in 2012 to connect passengers who need rides with drivers willing to provide rides using their own personal vehicles. The company currently operates in 68 cities across the U.S.