Jesse Powell, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is stepping down from his position. The company said that Dave Ripley, its chief operating officer, will take over as the new CEO.
Powell has been an important figure in the cryptocurrency industry since Bitcoin’s early days. He helped grow the company from a startup to one of the biggest exchanges in the space. However, he has also become a controversial figure due to his positions on various controversial topics, such as vaccines and diversity.
According to Powell, he decided to resign from his position as the CEO due to his exhaustion. He said that he had become tired of the endless tasks and responsibilities that come with running a company. He said that he wanted to spend more time working on his passion projects. He also noted that he’s looking forward to catching up on his personal life.
Powell noted that the company conducted an extensive search for its next leader. It interviewed over a dozen candidates before it selected Ripley. Ripley, who will become the new CEO once the company finds a new COO, said that he’s excited about the challenge of leading a large team. He also noted that the company’s culture will not change.
He stated that during his time with Kraken, he collaborated with Ripley on a controversial culture document that rejected the company’s diversity and inclusion goals. In a recent Twitter post, Powell criticized the document’s depiction of people who don’t care about the company’s goals and instead want to be productive. He noted that most of them are unable to be productive when they are being dragged into debates and therapy sessions.
In an interview with Fortune, Powell said that the culture document was one of the most significant factors that he experienced during his time with the company. He noted that it led to a surge in job applications.
During the interview, Powell was asked about the possibility of going public. He refused to provide details about the type of public offering that he might launch. However, he noted that he had gotten in trouble in the past for publicly discussing controversial topics.
Dil Bole Oberoi
