Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz announces retirement, stock plummets 25%

Dustin Moskovitz, the CEO of Asana and one of the original founders of Facebook, is retiring from the software company he started in 2008.

Asana announced Moskovitz’s upcoming departure on Monday as part of the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, and its board has retained an executive search firm to help choose a new CEO. Moskovitz notified its board “of his intention to transition to the role of Chair when a new CEO begins,” the company said Monday.

“As I reflect on my journey since co-founding Asana nearly 17 years ago, I’m filled with immense gratitude,” Moskovitz said in a statement. “Creating and leading Asana has been more than just building a company — it’s been a profound privilege to work alongside some of the most talented minds in the industry.”

Asana said fourth-quarter sales rose 10% year over year to $188.3 million, which was in line with analysts’ estimates. The company said its adjusted earnings per share was breakeven, ahead of analysts’ estimates of a loss of one cent per share.

Asana said it expects fiscal first-quarter revenue of $184.5 million to $186.5 million, trailing analysts’ expectations of $191 million.

Asana’s stock price was down more than 25% in after-hours trading Monday.

Moskovitz owns about 53% of the company’s outstanding shares, between his Class A and Class B holdings. He has substantially increased his ownership since the company’s public market debut in 2020.

In 2023, following a dip across the tech sector, Moskovitz told CNBC that “It’s been a wild two years in the market and there have been some interesting buying opportunities.” 

He has a total net worth of more than $16 billion, according to Forbes, mostly because of his early Facebook stake.

Moskovitz said in his Monday retirement statement that he plans to focus more on his philanthropic endeavors, such as Good Ventures and Open Philanthropy, which cites “potential risks from advanced AI” among its various focus areas. In 2010, Moskovitz signed the Giving Pledge, a promise by some of the wealthiest people in the world to donate most of their fortunes to charity.

Good Ventures, which was co-founded by Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna, donated $30 million to ChatGPT maker OpenAI over a three-year period in 2017.