Pinterest has named Amazon executive James Dibbo as its next chief financial officer.

Dibbo will take up the role on 26 October, succeeding Julia Brau Donnelly, who is leaving Pinterest at the end of the month for a new position at a privately held early-stage company.

The 56-year-old joins from Amazon, where he most recently served as vice president and chief financial officer for global entertainment, advertising and corporate development. His remit covered businesses including Amazon Ads, Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios, Music, Audible and Twitch.

Pinterest chief executive Bill Ready said Dibbo had experience running finance operations across complex global businesses and understood the overlap between “consumer experience, shopping, advertising and technology”.

That mix is increasingly central to Pinterest’s commercial strategy. The company has spent the past several years repositioning itself from an inspiration-led social platform towards a shopping and advertising business capable of converting product discovery into measurable sales for brands.

Pinterest now has 640m monthly active users worldwide, according to its latest corporate figures, and reported 18 per cent year-on-year revenue growth in its second quarter.

Last month, Pinterest unveiled Visual Search Ads, extending its efforts to commercialise the way users discover products through images rather than conventional text search. Earlier this year it also introduced a series of AI-led tools focused on product discovery and personalised shopping.

Dibbo’s advertising background at Amazon is likely to be particularly relevant as Pinterest aims to strengthen its performance marketing credentials and convince brands that advertising on the service can deliver direct commercial returns.

Donnelly joined Pinterest as finance chief in 2023 and will remain with the company until 30 October, providing a short handover period before her departure.

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