London's $1 billion fintech startup TransferWise quietly changed CEO in September

By: James Cook,Oscar Williams-Grut

TransferWise, the London fintech startup valued at close to $1 billion (£660 million), quietly changed CEO in September.
Co-founder Taavet Hinrikus has taken over from fellow founder Kristo Kaarmann as the boss of the international money transfer business.

Business Insider spotted the change on TransferWise's current "About" page.

Hinrikus is listed as CEO, while Kaarmann's title is "Executive Founder":

Business Insider contacted TransferWise for comment on its CEO change. It told us that there had been operational changes, but downplayed any serious consequences from the move:

A couple of months ago the founders changed their roles slightly. We're growing fast and we constantly look across the company to see how we can enable our teams to have the biggest impact. That goes for the founders too. We try different things to figure out what works best and gives us the fastest speed and the best outcome. It's a change in how the founders work together - but nothing has changed in the way that we execute towards the vision.

It looks like TransferWise's cofounders aren't 100% sure about who is the CEO, either. Both currently list their job title as CEO in their Twitter bio:

4-year-old TransferWise is one London's most exciting startups. The company was valued at $1 billion (£660 million) earlier this year after attracting a $58 million (£38 million) investment round led by Silicon Valley venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz.

TransferWise lets people send money internationally online and uses a peer-to-peer marketplace to cut down on fees. Customers sending money one way are matched with consumers sending cash in the other direction.

Each customer then gets cash paid out of a pot in their native country, saving the actual transfer and hence cutting out fees. TransferWise then moves its money around in bulk to save money.

TransferWise announced in June that it is now transferring £500 million ($762 million) a month and has transferred over £3 billion ($4.5 billion) since launch.