Uri Kolodny stepped down as chief executive of StarkWare on January 11, 2024. He wrote on X that "vicious medical challenges at home require my undivided attention"1. The Block confirmed the resignation that same day. Its report named StarkWare co-founder and president Eli Ben-Sasson as his replacement2. Kolodny had taken a leave of absence about a year earlier, in early 2023. “I took a LoA a year ago, but unfortunately that wasn't nearly enough,” he wrote.
Three leadership moves at StarkWare on the record since 2024
Every move CryptoLately has verified there, by the day it became public
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jan. 11, 2024 | Kolodny left as CEO. Uri Kolodny left as Chief Executive Officer of StarkWare |
| April 13, 2026 | Layoffs. Layoffs at StarkWare became public |
| April 13, 2026 | Katz left as COO. Oren Katz left as Chief Operating Officer of StarkWare |
20 CEO exits on the record in 2024
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2024: 20
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 11 |
| 2024 | 20 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 18 |
The move
Kolodny co-founded StarkWare, the Israel-based developer behind the Starknet network, and led the company starting in 20182. He kept a board seat at StarkWare and at the Starknet Foundation. Only the operating role changed hands1. Ben-Sasson, his co-founder, his close friend of 35 years and the co-inventor of the STARK proof system StarkWare runs on, took the chief executive title. Kolodny spoke directly about the handoff. “I am sure he will lead StarkWare forward with talent and devotion, to great heights,” he wrote on X.
Why would a founder explain so little about his own exit? Kolodny named the reason himself, in the same post, rather than leaving it to a press release. "Writing this is hard for me," he wrote, saying he expected to step back from public channels to focus on family1. The Block's report repeated only what he posted about his family2.
StarkWare before and after
Before the change, StarkWare had raised $261 million since its 2018 founding. That total included a $100 million Series D round in May 2022 that valued the company at $8 billion, The Block reported2. Ben-Sasson moved from president into the chief executive seat, putting the top architect of StarkWare's proof system in charge of the company's direction. Starknet, the permissionless layer 2 network StarkWare built, was preparing to unlock its STRK token in April 2024. The total supply ran to ten billion tokens for fees, governance and staking, according to The Block.
What came next
Ben-Sasson remained StarkWare's chief executive in April 2026, more than two years later. StarkWare cut about 30 percent of its workforce under his leadership, Globes reported on April 14, 20263. He told employees the company was adjusting its strategy to shift from infrastructure research toward revenue-generating products, writing that "infrastructure alone does not win the game". Globes credited Ben-Sasson by name and title in a caption alongside the report, confirming he still held the chief executive role StarkWare handed him in January 2024.
Sources
- Uri Kolodny, "Uri Kolodny on X," X, January 11, 2024, https://x.com/ukolodny/status/1745427929952133351
- Yogita Khatri, "StarkWare CEO Uri Kolodny steps down over health issue, Eli Ben-Sasson takes over," The Block, January 11, 2024, https://www.theblock.co/post/271926/starkware-ceo-uri-kolodny-steps-down
- Meytal Vaizberg, "Blockchain co StarkWare lays off 30% of workforce," Globes, April 14, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMimgFBVV95cUxPOGJ3YW5UaDVEbDB1Nk5jZW1Rc0NPVUxISzdJdkQyU1BlaW9KQUNvLWlNMEp2RGVJM0FEa2VzZzNCR1lEa0FJWW82MWlNLUZEUl80TE1TOXNTWm1RbVlXWXk5STducl9KbG11Uk93djV6QzMwTEw1MUthc3p3QUZvX1NIZmhnNW80WWNoS2dObnE5VXh0MEJtaVV3?oc=5