US-based online trading platform Robinhood has announced that its co-founder and chief creative officer (CCO), Baiju Bhatt, is to step down after ten years at the company to “pursue other entrepreneurial interests”.
Baiju Bhatt to step down from CCO position at Robinhood
Bhatt, who also served as co-CEO of the company until November 2020, will remain a member of Robinhood’s board of directors.
According to Forbes, the outgoing CCO owns 8% of the company, which went public on the Nasdaq exchange in July 2021.
Vlad Tenev, CEO and fellow co-founder of Robinhood, says that Bhatt, who he describes as a friend of over 20 years, has played a “pivotal role in opening access to the markets for millions of new investors”.
Speaking on his departure, Bhatt says that “Robinhood has been my life” since he helped found the company in 2013.
“I will have more to share about my next steps soon but know the future has never been so bright,” he concludes.
Based in California, Robinhood operates across three divisions: Robinhood Financial, a digital investment platform; Robinhood Crypto, a crypto trading service; and Robinhood Money, which permits customers to make purchases and earn rewards through associated debit and credit cards.
Bhatt’s exit from the CCO position comes after an eventful year for Robinhood in 2023. The company reportedly underwent a workforce reduction of approximately150 full-time employees, 7% of its total workforce, in June last year, while in the same month it completed the acquisition of San Francisco-based credit card platform X1 for $95 million.
The company has also launched in the UK this year after hiring Jordan Sinclair as its UK CEO last summer.
