Equity management startup Carta laid off more members of its workforce on Wednesday—marking at least its third layoff event this year, Fortune confirmed with three current employees, including one who was impacted as part of the cuts.
The layoffs were completed on Wednesday, though it is unclear exactly how many employees were impacted. A Carta spokeswoman declined to comment, and employees were not certain the scope of the layoff.
The employee who was let go said that they and their whole team were taken by surprise. “We didn’t see this coming. I had a full calendar booked with meetings,” they said, expressing concern over being able to take care of their family in the coming months. The employee said they were told on a group meeting that the layoffs were not related to performance, but a broader company reorganization. Shortly after the meeting ended, the employee lost access to their computer. (Fortune granted all the employees anonymity because they either were afraid of retaliation or were not authorized to speak on behalf of the company.)
This is at least the third layoff event at Carta since the beginning of 2023—following a reduction in January, then another in July. Carta, which is backed by investors including a16z, Silver Lake Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, had approximately 1,800 employees as of this summer.
The layoff comes about two weeks after a meeting on Oct. 27 in which CEO Henry Ward addressed the company during its weekly town hall regarding the message he had sent to all of Carta’s clients. After Fortune published an article about mounting litigation at the company in mid-October, Ward published a letter on Medium in which he criticized business journalism, explained the company’s approach to litigation, and shared more details about the company’s investigation into its former chief technology officer. Ward later sent out a link to that letter to all Carta’s clients. The email, which linked to his letter and recommended that clients read it if they had followed and were concerned about the media coverage, caused a stir on Twitter.
The employee who was let go says they had been asked questions about the media coverage several times in conversations with Carta customers over the last couple of weeks. Another employee, who said they “really respected [Ward’s] desire to want to say something and clear the air,” said they personally hadn’t heard anything.
One of the current employees said they were nervous more layoffs could follow. “I’m just glad I still have my job,” they said.
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