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Nikolay Storonsky

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Nikolay Storonsky
Никола́й Никола́евич Сторо́нский
Storonsky in November 2022
Born (1984-07-21) 21 July 1984 (age 40)
Dolgoprudny, Russian SFSR
Other namesNik Storonsky
OccupationBusinessman

Nikolay Storonsky (born 21 July 1984) is a Russian-born British entrepreneur. He is best known as the co-founder and CEO of Revolut and the founder of venture-capital firm QuantumLight. Revolut is now operational in more than 35+ countries and serves 50 million customers. The company is valued at $45 Billion as of August 2024. [1]

Early life and career

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Storonsky was born on 21 July 1984[2] in Dolgoprudny, a town located about 20 kilometers North of Moscow's city centre.

As a child, Storonsky boxed and took up swimming as a teenager, becoming a state champion later at his university. He is also keen kite surfer and a mountaineer in his free time. He always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur since childhood, and started reading books on economics and business when he was six.[3][4] His father, Nikolay Mironovich Storonsky,[5] has been Deputy General Director of Science for the natural gas research institute Gazprom Promgaz.

He completed his master's degree in General and Applied physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.[6] He graduated with another Master's in Applied Economics and Finance at New Economic School in Moscow.[6]

Storonsky started his career as an equity derivatives trader at Lehman Brothers from 2006 - 2008 and later moved on to work at Credit Suisse where he continued till 2013. Storonsky moved to England in 2004 and later acquired British citizenship.

In 2022, Storonsky condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine[7] and renounced his Russian citizenship.[8] In his open letter, he also pledged that Revolut will match every donation made to the Red Cross Ukraine in solidarity with victims of the war.[9]

Revolut

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Storonsky's experience as a trader gave him a deeper understanding of the global finance and the challenges faced by consumers and businesses who need to move money across borders, which eventually led to him founding Revolut in 2015 together with Vladislav Yatsenko.[10][11][12]

The idea of the company came when, while travelling, he was dumbfounded by the high transaction fees and commissions levied by banks.[13] His first idea was a multi-currency bank card that would allow currency conversion while traveling at a favorable rate.[14]

The Revolut platform was created to allow travellers to spend in over 90 countries.[15] Revolut offers accounts and debit cards for fee-free spending abroad at real exchange rates.[16]

In 2021, Revolut became the most valuable fintech firm in the UK. [17][18] As per the 2023 annual report, Revolut achieved a revenue of 1.8 million GBP, with a net profit of 344 million GBP. As of November 2024, the company serves 50 million customers globally and has more than 10,000 employees. The company is valued at $45 Billion as of August 2024.[19][20][21]

QuantumLight Capital

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In 2022, Storonsky launched QuantumLight a quantitative venture capital firm relying on algorithms and artificial intelligence over human input to source deals. QuantumLight developed a proprietary AI system named “Aleph”, to identify promising investment opportunities[22]. QuantumLight claims that Aleph tracks the entire universe of venture-backed companies since the ’90s, to determine “robust and stable success patterns”.

QuantumLight supports startup founders by sharing Storonsky’s best practices for building high-performance scale-ups, influenced by his experience as the founder of Revolut. The firm has recently begun publicising some of these best practices to a wide audience, with the launch of “Driving High Performance” in September 2024. [23] The book was widely publicised and shared in the technology community, being referenced by investors such as Index Ventures [24] and large publications like Forbes and Fortune. [25] [26] As of November 2024, QuantumLight’s disclosed portfolio includes: ThanksBen, Builder.io, Deepscribe, Ghost, MarqVision, Mesh, Monta, RadAI, RobinAI.[27]

Awards and Recognitions

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Storonsky made the 2022 Forbes Billionaires List with an estimated wealth of $7.1 billion and occupied the 336th position.[18] Welp Magazine also named him in the following lists: '101 UK Founder & CEO’s To Follow in 2022' and '101 UK CEO’s To Follow in 2022'.[28][29]

References

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  1. ^ https://www.reuters.com/authors/tommy-reggiori-wilkes/ (16 August 2024). "Revolut joins Europe's biggest banks with $45 billion valuation after share sale". Reuters. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help); External link in |last= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Treanor, Jill (10 September 2022). "Revolut chief Nikolay Storonsky: We can still be banking's super app". The Sunday Times.
  3. ^ England, Joanna (2 September 2022). "Fintech Trailblazer Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut's dynamic CEO". fintechmagazine.com. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  4. ^ Денисов, Олег (5 March 2022). "Николай Сторонский о начале карьеры и создании Revolut". Бизнес‑cекреты (in Russian). Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  5. ^ BNS. "LRT: отец главы Revolut Сторонского работает в "Газпроме"". DELFI. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Revolut's Nikolay Storonsky on long hours and high staff turnover". Financial Times. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  7. ^ "War is never the answer: Revolut's Russia-born co-founder Nik Storonsky condemns the invasion". Silicon canals. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Fourth Billionaire Renounces Russian Citizenship Over Ukraine". themoscowtimes.com. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  9. ^ "A personal letter from our CEO | Revolut blog". Revolut. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  10. ^ "Revolut co-founder Nik Storonsky set to join the multibillionaire club". The Guardian. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Lehman Brothers trader to fintech billionaire: Revolut's Nikolay Storonsky". Reuters. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  12. ^ "'Money spoils children': Revolut's $7bn CEO Nik Storonsky on inheritance, growth plans, and IPO". Evening Standard. October 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  13. ^ Reggiori, Tommy (22 August 2024). "Who is Revolut's Nik Storonsky, the CEO taking on the banks?". Reuters.
  14. ^ "Стартап, очаровавший Грефа и Тинькова: как выпускник МФТИ создал бизнес на $33 млрд". Forbes.ru (in Russian). 15 July 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  15. ^ "Which countries can I send a card transfer to? | Revolut United Kingdom". Revolut. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  16. ^ "Revolut", Wikipedia, 19 January 2025, retrieved 19 January 2025
  17. ^ "Revolut becomes UK's biggest fintech firm with £24bn valuation". The Guardian. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Nik Storonsky". Forbes. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  19. ^ jhaxell (19 November 2024). "Revolut surpasses 50 million global customers, aims for 100m milestone". FinTech Global. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  20. ^ "Revolut expects to boost workforce by 40% in 2024; as company reaches 10,000 employee milestone". Revolut. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  21. ^ Kiderlin, Sophie (16 August 2024). "British fintech Revolut valued at $45 billion in secondary share sale". CNBC. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  22. ^ "Quantum Light Capital".
  23. ^ https://quantumlightcapital.com/playbooks/performance-management
  24. ^ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/martinmignot_the-most-valuable-private-tech-company-out-activity-7244946255523540992-4GGY?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios
  25. ^ https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2024/09/10/lessons-from-revolut-how-startups-can-help-their-staff-outperform/
  26. ^ https://fortune.com/europe/2024/07/03/billionaire-revolut-ceo-nik-storonsky-launches-vc-firm-powered-by-ai/
  27. ^ https://quantumlightcapital.com/#portfolio
  28. ^ "Top Influencers: 101 UK Founder & CEO's To Follow in 2022 - Welp Magazine". Welp Magazine. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Top Influencers: 101 UK CEO's To Follow in 2022 - Welp Magazine". Welp Magazine. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
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