Wish Appoints Farhang Kassaei as Chief Technology Officer

Rhea-AI Summary

Wish has appointed Farhang Kassaei as Chief Technology Officer, effective July 12, 2021. Kassaei, previously a Senior Director at Google, will oversee Wish's core Marketplace and drive technological advancements. His extensive experience includes leadership roles at eBay and Google, focusing on commerce capabilities and infrastructure. CEO Piotr Szulczewski emphasized Kassaei's role in enhancing product offerings and developing new tech solutions, aiming to enrich the consumer experience while bolstering Wish's market position.

Positive

• Farhang Kassaei brings extensive experience from Google and eBay, indicating strong leadership potential.
• Kassaei is expected to enhance Wish's technology development, which may lead to improved consumer experiences and new product offerings.

Negative

• None.

ContextLogic Inc. (d/b/a/ Wish) (NASDAQ: WISH), one of the world’s largest mobile ecommerce platforms, today announced the appointment of Farhang Kassaei, former Senior Director at Google, to the newly created position of Chief Technology Officer, effective July 12, 2021.

Farhang Kassaei, CTO, Wish (Photo: Business Wire)

Mr. Kassaei will report to Wish Founder and CEO Piotr Szulczewski and will be responsible for Wish’s core Marketplace as well as Engineering Product & Infrastructure, Data & Relevancy, Wish Local and Product Procurement. He will also drive the development of new technology solutions.

Prior to joining Wish, Mr. Kassaei served as Senior Director of Software Engineering at Google and since 2014, oversaw the development and roll-out of full-stack commerce capabilities across Search, YouTube, Assistant and Local, as well as Google Express local shopping and delivery products. He also oversaw the infrastructure enabling Google Product Listing Ads (PLA) globally.

“Farhang will drive our technology development at a pivotal moment in our journey and lead the enhancement of Wish’s existing product offerings, as well as the creation of a whole suite of exciting new technology solutions,” said Wish Founder and CEO Piotr Szulczewski. “Farhang is an experienced leader, and his deep understanding of software, systems, ecommerce ecosystems and product development will be invaluable to us as we continue to execute on our vision and strategic roadmap. His work on logistics and scaling merchant onboarding at Google are particularly relevant and demonstrative of the type of experience that will have a positive impact on our core business. We’re delighted to be strengthening our senior leadership team with someone of Farhang’s caliber and look forward to his contributions to our future success.”

“This is an exciting opportunity to join a rapidly growing business with a clear vision of making ecommerce affordable and accessible to everyone,” said Mr. Kassaei. “My aim is to help enrich the consumer experience and make our open commerce ecosystem more viable for merchants, all while building out complementary new features to strengthen Wish’s position as one of the preeminent platforms for value-conscious shoppers.”

Before Google, Mr. Kassaei previously spent more than 10 years at eBay Inc. where he held multiple leadership positions, including Chief Architect for the core marketplace. During his tenure, he led many key initiatives across eBay, including global identity, buyer/merchant risk and verification, eBay’s API platform, eBay/PayPal’s integration and the migration of eBay to a microservices architecture.

Prior to joining eBay, he led engineering teams in companies creating large 3D collaboration software for manufacturing and processing, and underwriting software for the financial industry. Mr. Kassaei holds an MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The Ohio State University and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.

About Wish:
Wish brings an affordable and entertaining shopping experience to millions of consumers around the world. Since our founding in San Francisco in 2010, we have become one of the largest global ecommerce platforms, connecting millions of value-conscious consumers in over 100 countries to over half a million merchants globally. Wish combines technology and data science capabilities and an innovative discovery-based mobile shopping experience to create a highly-visual, entertaining, and personalized shopping experience for its users. For more information about the company or to download the Wish mobile app, visit www.wish.com or follow @Wish on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok or @WishShopping on Twitter and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward-looking, including, but not limited to, statements regarding Wish's outlook, priorities, vision, strategic roadmap, expectations regarding partnerships, and growth opportunities. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “guidance,” “intends,” “may,” “outlook,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,” “would” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Further information on these and additional risks that could affect Wish’s results is included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its Annual Report for 2020 on Form 10-K filed on March 25, 2021 and its Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2021 filed on May 12, 2021, and future reports that Wish may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Any forward-looking statement made by Wish in this news release speaks only as of the day on which Wish makes it. Wish assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210712005446/en/

FAQ

Who has been appointed as the new CTO of Wish?

Farhang Kassaei has been appointed as the new Chief Technology Officer of Wish.

What is Farhang Kassaei's background before joining Wish?

Before joining Wish, Kassaei served as Senior Director of Software Engineering at Google and held multiple leadership positions at eBay.

When did Farhang Kassaei start his role at Wish?

Farhang Kassaei's appointment as CTO of Wish became effective on July 12, 2021.

What will Kassaei be responsible for at Wish?

Kassaei will oversee Wish's core Marketplace and responsible for engineering, product infrastructure, and developing new technology solutions.

How might Kassaei's appointment impact Wish?

His extensive experience in ecommerce technology may enhance Wish's product offerings and improve the overall consumer experience.