Etsy CEO Josh Silverman talked tariffs at Semafor’s 2025 World Economy Summit last week, saying sellers on Etsy could become collateral damage.
Advocating for sellers was one of his jobs, Silverman said, for which he received nearly $18 million in compensation in 2024, according to Etsy’s filing with the SEC today.
Silverman told Semafor attendees, “We’re very active advocating in Washington (DC) and in Brussels and in other places to be the voice of the independent entrepreneur.” And in fact, he said he had had a constructive meeting that morning (April 24) with the White House’s National Economic Council regarding the end of the $800 de minimis exemption, among other issues.
Referencing the exemption on electronics, Silverman said, “If we’re prepared to make exemptions for Apple, shouldn’t we be prepared to look after a single mother working from her home, making something and selling it to someone else?”
As Etsy’s SEC filing revealed, Silverman earned $17,956,561 million in total compensation in 2024 (including a salary of $660,000), which was 84 times the median compensation of all of its employees, which was $214,827 (not including the CEO).
Semafor published the following video on YouTube; Silverman’s interview appears at minute 45:54: