- The founder and ex-CEO of OpenWeb, who was ousted from the company, is back as an advisor.
- It ends a dispute between OpenWeb’s board and Shoval, which led to his exit from the company.
- Shoval, who sued OpenWeb and some of its board members, said they had resolved their differences.
Nadav Shoval, the founder who was ousted as CEO of OpenWeb by its board in a messy public battle, is back with the adtech company in an advisor role, Business Insider has learned.
In an email to employees sent on Friday morning and obtained by BI, OpenWeb’s interim CEO, Tim Harvey, announced that the company and Shoval had “reached a mutually agreed resolution” in which Shoval would remain connected to the company as a senior advisor to its chief executive.
Later on Friday, the company published a post on its website confirming the move. OpenWeb didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“We resolved our differences,” Shoval told BI. “The company remains committed to its mission of OpenWeb, and I’m excited to continue to support the mission in my role as senior advisor to the CEO.”
The settlement caps months of drama at OpenWeb, which began in mid-2024 after Shoval and some board members disagreed over a potential investment in the company from BlackRock, Shoval previously told BI in an interview in December.
The relationship between Shoval and the board became further strained last year after the board changed his reporting line — a move Shoval said was in breach of his contract because, in his view, it diminished his role and hindered his management capabilities.
Shoval wrote to the board in September, demanding it reverse the change. Later that month, the board fired him instead.
He took the matter public, posting to LinkedIn in September that he hadn’t stepped down as CEO, writing: “I do not accept these actions. I will continue to fight for OpenWeb’s mission and purpose alongside our team.”
Shoval also went the legal route, suing OpenWeb and many of its board members in a Tel Aviv, Israel court in October, alleging that he had been the victim of a boardroom coup. The complaint demanded he be reinstated as CEO and given the ability to appoint two new board members.
In response to Shoval’s suit, OpenWeb said in court filings that the case was a classic situation in which the board of directors had lost confidence in its CEO. OpenWeb said Shoval was trying to extract money that was not owed to him and that he had chosen to give up control of the company when he brought in investors.
The case has now been settled, Shoval confirmed.
OpenWeb, which has around 350 employees, provides technology that helps publishers boost revenue and engagement on their websites, such as comment moderation and advertising tools. Clients and partners include publishers such as CNN, Fox, and Hearst, and the advertising companies WPP, Dentsu, and Publicis Groupe, according to its website.
Founded in 2012, OpenWeb has raised more than $392 million and was last valued at $1.5 billion. Its investors include the venture capital firms Insight Partners, Georgian Partners, and Index Ventures, companies like The New York Times and Dentsu, and the famed NYU Stern professor and podcaster Scott Galloway, who sits on the company’s board.
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