Bill Ready

Bill Ready
Bill Ready
Born	William J. Ready 1979
Nationality	American
Occupation	Technology executive
Title	CEO of Pinterest
Education	Harvard Business School (MBA)

William J. Ready (born 1979) is an American technology executive who has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Pinterest, the visual search and discovery platform, since June 2022. He also serves on the boards of directors of Visa Inc. and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Prior to joining Pinterest, Ready held senior leadership positions at some of the most prominent companies in the digital payments and commerce sectors, including serving as president of commerce, payments, and next billion users at Google, chief operating officer (COO) of PayPal, and CEO of both Venmo and Braintree. His career has been defined by work at the intersection of digital payments, financial technology, and e-commerce, having guided startups from pre-revenue stages through to billions of dollars in transaction volume and major corporate acquisitions. At Pinterest, Ready has focused on expanding the platform's commerce capabilities and has become a public advocate for youth online safety and responsible technology policies.

Early Life

William J. Ready was born in 1979. He grew up in Kentucky, where he would later attend college. Details about his family background and upbringing remain largely private. Ready's early life in Kentucky shaped his path toward technology and business, and he went on to pursue his undergraduate education at the University of Louisville before attending graduate school at Harvard Business School.

Education

Ready earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Louisville in Kentucky. He subsequently attended Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA). His educational background combined technical and business training, which informed his later career in financial technology and digital commerce.

Career

Braintree and Venmo

Ready's rise in the technology industry began with his leadership of Braintree, a payments platform that processed transactions for mobile and web-based businesses. Under his leadership as CEO, Braintree grew from a pre-revenue startup into a company processing billions of dollars in payments. In August 2012, Braintree acquired Venmo, a peer-to-peer mobile payments service, for $26.2 million. Ready served as CEO of both Braintree and Venmo, overseeing a period of rapid growth for both platforms. The acquisition of Venmo was significant in that it combined Braintree's merchant payment processing infrastructure with Venmo's consumer-facing peer-to-peer payments product, creating a more comprehensive payments ecosystem.

The success of Braintree and Venmo under Ready's leadership attracted the attention of PayPal, which subsequently acquired Braintree (including Venmo) in 2013. The acquisitions of both companies were credited with helping to strengthen PayPal's position in the mobile payments market. Ready's ability to scale these startups from early stages to major transaction volumes was noted as a defining aspect of his career trajectory.

PayPal

Following PayPal's acquisition of Braintree, Ready continued to serve in leadership roles at PayPal. In October 2016, PayPal promoted Ready to the position of chief operating officer (COO). In this role, Ready was responsible for overseeing the company's consumer and merchant products, technology, engineering, and data operations. His promotion reflected the growing importance of the Braintree and Venmo businesses within PayPal's broader portfolio.

As COO, Ready helped guide PayPal through a period of significant growth in digital payments and mobile commerce. The company expanded its partnerships with merchants and financial institutions during his tenure. In June 2019, it was announced that Ready would be departing PayPal. His departure from PayPal was followed by his move to Google, continuing his focus on commerce and payments at a larger scale.

Google

In December 2019, it was reported that Ready would join Google as president of commerce, a newly created position. He officially started at Google in early 2020, where his portfolio expanded to include commerce, payments, and the company's "next billion users" initiative, which focused on emerging markets and expanding Google's products to new populations globally.

At Google, Ready was tasked with developing the company's commerce and shopping strategies, which included integrating shopping features across Google's suite of products such as Search, Maps, YouTube, and Google Shopping. His role involved working to make Google a more significant player in the e-commerce ecosystem, competing with platforms such as Amazon and Shopify. Ready's experience in payments and merchant services from his time at Braintree, Venmo, and PayPal made him a natural fit for Google's ambitions in commerce.

Ready served as president of commerce, payments, and next billion users at Google from 2020 to 2022, before departing to become CEO of Pinterest.

Pinterest

On June 28, 2022, Pinterest announced that Ready had been appointed as the company's new CEO, succeeding co-founder Ben Silbermann, who transitioned to the role of executive chairman. The leadership transition was described as part of Pinterest's effort to accelerate its commerce and advertising capabilities, areas where Ready's background in payments and e-commerce was seen as directly relevant.

Under Ready's leadership, Pinterest has pursued several strategic directions. The company has expanded its shopping and commerce features, seeking to capitalize on the platform's position as a place where users discover products and plan purchases. Pinterest's user base has grown during Ready's tenure, though the company's stock market valuation has experienced volatility.

Ready has positioned Pinterest as a platform focused on providing a positive user experience, differentiating it from other social media platforms that have faced criticism for promoting negative content or harmful experiences. In a 2023 interview with Fortune, Ready discussed his vision for Pinterest as a platform that could demonstrate that a positive online environment and commercial success were not mutually exclusive.

The Financial Times has also covered Ready's efforts to transform Pinterest's business model, examining how the company has sought to more directly connect user inspiration with purchasing opportunities. In October 2025, The New York Times profiled Ready and Pinterest's position within the broader social media landscape.

Board Memberships

In addition to his role as CEO of Pinterest, Ready serves on the boards of directors of multiple public companies. In September 2025, Visa Inc. named Ready to its board of directors. Ready also serves on the board of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., the home furnishings retailer. These board appointments reflect his expertise in commerce, payments, and consumer technology.

Advocacy for Youth Online Safety

Ready has been a public advocate for youth online safety and has called on the technology industry to take greater responsibility for the impact of social media on young people. In an opinion piece published in The Hill, Ready argued that the technology industry should reject what he described as "Big Tobacco's model" of downplaying known harms and instead proactively address the negative effects of social media on children and teenagers.

In January 2025, The Washington Post reported on Pinterest's initiatives related to cellphone use in schools and student health, with Ready supporting efforts to promote healthier technology habits among young people.

Under Ready's leadership, Pinterest has expanded its initiatives related to online safety and promoting positive user experiences on its platform. The company has implemented features designed to create a safer environment for younger users, and Ready has used his platform as CEO of a major social media company to participate in broader industry and policy conversations about responsible technology design.

Personal Life

Ready maintains a relatively private personal life. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Pinterest is headquartered. Beyond his corporate roles, Ready's public statements and activities have focused primarily on technology policy, commerce, and youth online safety issues.

Legacy

Bill Ready's career has traced a significant arc through the evolution of digital payments and e-commerce. His leadership of Braintree and Venmo during their formative years placed him at the center of a transformation in how consumers and merchants conduct financial transactions. The acquisition of Venmo by Braintree for $26.2 million in 2012, and the subsequent acquisition of Braintree by PayPal, helped establish peer-to-peer payments as a mainstream consumer behavior in the United States. Venmo, in particular, has become a widely used payments application, and the foundational growth that occurred under Ready's leadership contributed to that trajectory.

At PayPal, Ready's elevation to COO reflected his role in integrating Braintree and Venmo into a larger payments ecosystem. His subsequent move to Google and then to Pinterest demonstrated a career progression from building payments infrastructure to shaping broader commerce and platform strategies.

As CEO of Pinterest, Ready has sought to define an alternative model for social media — one that emphasizes positive content, user well-being, and a direct connection between inspiration and commerce. His advocacy for youth online safety has positioned him as a voice within the technology industry calling for greater corporate responsibility regarding the effects of social media on young users. Whether this approach yields lasting differentiation for Pinterest in a competitive social media and e-commerce landscape remains an evolving question, but Ready's contributions to digital payments and commerce have established him as a notable figure in American technology.