Fireworks hires former Meta executive Dave Wehner as CFO

Meta's longtime finance chief is leaving for a four-year-old AI inference startup valued at $17.5 billion Dave Wehner spent years managing the money at one of the largest companies on the planet. His next job is at a startup that is four years old. Wehner, who most recently served as Meta’s chief strategy officer, is leaving the company to become chief financial officer of Fireworks, an AI startup. He announced the move on X on Friday. It is a notable jump: a seasoned Big Tech finance executive betting his next chapter on a company that did not exist until 2022. From Menlo Park to the inference business Wehner’s résumé is about as Meta as it gets. He joined the company in 2012 and took over as CFO in 2014, a role he held until 2022. After that, he moved into the chief strategy officer seat, where he stayed until this month. That adds up to more than a decade inside a company that grew into one of the most closely watched businesses in tech. At Fireworks, his mandate is straightforward on paper. CEO Lin Qiao told CNBC in a statement that Wehner will be responsible for scaling the startup’s finances and operations. The hire also has a bit of a reunion quality. Fireworks was founded i...