Ousted CEO Dave Clark lashes out at Flexport in a post on social media, claiming the logistics company lacked process and financial discipline when he joined in September 2022. “Including numerous customer-facing issues that resulted in significant lost customers and a revenue forecasting model consistently providing overly optimistic outputs.”
Clark announced his sudden departure from Flexport in early September when the leadership scuffles took center stage in the public. Founder and co-CEO Bryan Petersen took over the reins and started with what many described as ‘cleaning up Clark’s mess.’
‘A strong leadership bench’ is what Clark envisioned for the company, which included “heavily investing in hiring hundreds of software engineers.” But just a few months later, Petersen had to let go of the bulk, ungraciously on X, shortly before their first day in the office. The post read: “Flexport is rescinding a bunch of signed offer letters for people starting as soon as this Monday. I am deeply sorry to those people who were expecting to join our company and won’t be able to at this time.”
Ironically, Clark spent only a year at Flexport compared to his 23-year-long dedication to his previous job at Amazon.
Painting a bleak picture
Clark claims that the company had “missed cost, margin, and revenue forecasts for multiple quarters” before he joined the team. When he arrived at Flexport in the top job, which he shared with Petersen, Clark’s strategy plan for the company, which was approved by the board, focused on realistic targets. “On delivering growth and moving to align costs with revenue, not a revenue number based on hope – but one grounded in reality.”
But the problems, according to Clark, were “much more extensive” than he initially thought when he agreed to join the company. But giving up was not in his vocabulary: “I’ve never shied away from a challenge.”
ALSO READ: More executives leave Flexport while the company launches a new tool
Defending his integrity
Despite all the criticism, Clark affirms his stance on showing up even when no one expects it. “Operating with integrity and treating colleagues with respect is critical to the success of any company. Despite my short tenure, I care about the company and its employees and want it to succeed.”
Ending his damning post on social media, he confirms what many have suspected. “Flexport is facing serious internal and industry challenges that require serious leadership, and I sincerely hope they find a successful path.”
Clark is moving on with his career and has plans to “build something new,” but what he has in mind is anyone’s guess for now.
About the author
Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
