Fintech/News/ Exclusive: Revolut appoints 29-year-old Yale graduate as CFO Mikko Salovaara joined the company in January this year, having begun his career in private equity. By Isabel Woodford 12 May 2021 \Fintech Is Europe now the friendliest place for crypto? By Zosia Wanat and Amy O'Brien 1 July 2022 Fintech/News/ Exclusive: Revolut appoints 29-year-old Yale graduate as CFO Mikko Salovaara joined the company in January this year, having begun his career in private equity. By Isabel Woodford 12 May 2021 Revolut, the top London fintech, has appointed a new chief finance officer (CFO) after a year-long search. Insiders told Sifted that Mikko Salovaara — a 29-year-old Yale graduate — will now lead the group’s finances, having joined the company in January. Revolut has been hunting for a CFO replacement since the sudden departure of David Maclean in March last year, who left after just six months in the role. Revolut has had an interim CFO in Bill Rattray ever since. Salovaara’s appointment at such a young age is a departure from the fintech’s recent strategy of hiring older and more experienced people into senior leadership positions. Revolut made tangible steps to add experience and credibility to its top ranks in a bid to win a UK bank licence, bringing in bigwigs like ex-Standard Chartered chief Richard Holmes, Ian Wilson and Kitty Ussher. In contrast, Salovaara does not have past experience leading a regulated finance company. Instead, Salovaara has cut his teeth in private equity and as a regional CFO at the Kraft-Heinz Company, the consumer goods company, where he earned recognition on Forbes 30 under 30. Revolut’s new CFO, Mikko Salovaara Salovaara will now be tasked with helping Revolut reach long-term profitability, having been heavily lossmaking for the past six years. This may involve controlling spending, something which Salovaara will be familiar with having worked at Kraft-Heinz — known for its zero-based budgeting techniques. He is also expected to play a key role in Revolut’s next fundraise, which is reportedly being supported by FT Partners. The fintech was last valued at $5.5bn and operates across 30+ markets. In an email to Sifted, Mikko Salovaara said: “I’m delighted to have joined Revolut and humbled by the opportunity to help achieve our ambition of becoming a truly global bank.” Nik Storonsky, Founder & CEO at Revolut said: “I’m very pleased to welcome Mikko Salovaara as our Chief Financial Officer. Mikko has a strong track record in building resilient financial teams and processes in global consumer-facing industries and is focused on building out our global capabilities as we address the next phase of our growth.” A changing c-suite Revolut’s top ranks have radically changed over the past 18 months. The digital banking company lost eight top employees over a series of months last year, including deputy chief financial officer Stefan Wille. Over the course of the lockdown, key members of Revolut’s ‘‘people operations’ team also left, followed by execs in its risk and compliance division. Ex-employees have blamed the level of churn on its pressure-cooker working conditions. However, Revolut may now be taking steps to secure longer-term hires. Notably, the company originally hired Salovaara in January 2021 as VP finance, possibly with a view to trialling him before promoting him internally. He became CFO last month following board approval, and will now lead Revolut’s ~100-strong finance team. Looking forward, there are more senior hires in the pipeline. Revolut is currently recruiting a C-suite for a UK bank, which it’s working to get a license for. The bank would require a separate CEO and CFO to the main group. Isabel Woodford is Sifted’s fintech correspondent. She tweets from @i_woodford and coauthors our new fintech-focused newsletter. Sign up here. Related Articles Starling to become the first profitable retail challenger bank By Freya Pratty Click here to read more Neobanks gamble with buy-now pay-later — but will it make them money? By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more UK-based Tractable hits unicorn status as insurtech space heats up By Kai Nicol-Schwarz Click here to read more Neobanks’ biggest challenge isn’t growth. It’s fraud By Isabel Woodford and Amy O'Brien Click here to read more Most Read 1 Member \Venture Capital German VCs are the second best paid in Europe 2 \Startup Life Where are Europe’s top digital nomad villages? 3 \Venture Capital New platform enables ‘everyday’ folk to invest in VC 4 \Venture Capital Europe gets its first creator-founded, creator-backed VC 5 \Public & Academic The European Commission has a big new plan for startups. Here’s what you need to know about it 1 Join the conversation Subscribe newest oldest Notify of new follow-up comments new replies to my comments Jim stoneHahahaha this is almost comedic. The PRA should take careful note of the ‘experience’ of this CFO. Nice work guys
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