“Money Corrupts Children”: Revolut’s $ 7 Billion CEO

“I think money is spoiling our children, doesn’t it?” Says the Revolut founder when I ask him if he shares James Bond’s views on the passing on of family fortunes. Craig made headlines because he said he found the inheritance “disgusting” and planned to spend or give away all of his millions before kicking the bucket.

Why do I ask Storonsky about it? Well, he’s a very rich man – at least on paper. The 37-year-old’s net worth is around $ 7 billion, according to people who follow these things. He is the co-founder of Revolut, which was valued at $ 33 billion in a funding round in July. Storonsky continues to retain a significant stake in the business.

“To be honest, I don’t really think about it,” he says.

Still, Storonsky must be considered one of the greatest wealth creators in British history. He co-founded Revolut in 2015 as a foreign exchange card linked to a smartphone app. As a former city merchant, he resented the high fees he was charged for overseas spending and thought he could do better.

From there, Revolut has branched out into everything from cryptocurrencies and stock trading to insurance and even vacation bookings. The rapid expansion has gained more than 16 million customers in 35 countries. It earned Revolut that high price tag too.

Storonsky, an avid windsurfer, took a much-needed summer vacation after closing the last deal. Now he’s back, tanned and invigorated. Revolut is working on an expansion into India, a banking license in the US and UK, and appears to be launching a new product every few weeks. The latest is PayDay, where Revolut shows people the wages they deserve. The company is working on other products such as Buy Now, Pay Loans Later, Card-to-Card Money Transfers, and Payroll Services.

These are the banks, lending companies, wire transfer services, website builders, and payroll companies that Revolut seeks to compete with. And travel companies and advertising giants too – but there’s just no place to go into all of that.

“I think I have more ideas now than six years ago,” says Storonsky. “Every year more and more ideas come up.”

Storonsky was born in Moscow in the mid-1980s as the son of a senior engineer at the state oil company Gazprom. While studying at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, he was a swimmer champion and worked as a trader at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse before starting his company.

Revolut is a product of its origins: a combination of the sober eye of a mathematician, high financial literacy and ruthless competitiveness.

“Being competitive and having ambitions is good for people,” he says. “It pushes them to do things. In any job it is good for your personal development. “

The company was once considered a close competitor to Monzo, its older and more supple rival in digital banking. But fates diverged during the pandemic. When card transaction revenues plummeted due to the lockdown, Monzo was forced to lay off employees and raise money at a discount. Revolut, which long ago diversified into new businesses, saw a surge in revenue thanks to its stock trading and cryptocurrency services.

Storonsky once said, “99.5% of my life is work-related” and I’ve seen him leaf through a half-hour conference presentation in just 15 minutes, seemingly in a rush to get back to the office.

He expects the same from his employees – sometimes asking too much. A 2019 article by Wired revealed the “human cost” of growing Revolut. It kicked the company into a tailspin, forcing it to fight back claims that it was built on the back of unsustainable labor practices.

Storonsky insists those days are behind them, despite seeing the infamous “Get Shit Done” neon sign still hanging in the office. (The “sh” in the shit doesn’t glow.)

“We now have HR managers, we have a lot of HR managers,” he says with a smile. “These additional features have been implemented and human resources processes have helped us mature – but at the core we are still the same in terms of our culture.”

Revolut launched a very public “grow up” campaign following the Wired article, a process that named City of London veteran and Aberdeen Asset Management co-founder, Martin Gilbert, chairman.

“In addition to experience, his most important help is that he is a founder himself,” says Storonsky. “He really understands the problems startups face. He doesn’t panic either, which is good. “

Revolut hopes to obtain its preliminary banking license in the UK by the end of the year, which will allow it to venture into credit products. The news from US regulators could come early next year. That would allow Revolut to get into lending – the real money maker.

“We now have more customers than HSBC in Europe,” he says. “That’s a good achievement, isn’t it? But overall we still have so much to do. Now we have to get HSBC’s income. “

The rapid expansion and the enormous valuation inevitably feed the discussion about an IPO. Storonsky insists the company is in no rush. Perhaps unfortunately for London, the dispassionate trader in him means that the London market is of no particular importance to him.

“An analysis has to be carried out: is it the US, is it Great Britain, maybe there is Hong Kong? I don’t know, ”he says. “Whenever we pull the trigger, we will carry out analyzes and make decisions. Formulas, we always believe in formulas. “

Storonsky has a reputation for being a difficult man to hit. Interviewing him can be like taking blood off a rock at times, but he’s in a good mood when I visit.

However, his protected nature reappears when I send a follow-up email asking about Storonsky’s family. Does he have a wife? Children? He refuses to answer. This is happening for the first time.

Old interviews suggest that he actually has a wife and two children. If they do exist, at least now they know that they shouldn’t rely on this future trust fund.