Nikolay Storonsky

Nikolay Storonsky
Born	Nikolay Storonsky
Nationality	British, Russian
Occupation	Technology entrepreneur, business executive
Title	Chief Executive Officer of Revolut
Known for	Co-founding and serving as CEO of Revolut

Nikolay "Nik" Storonsky is a British-Russian technology entrepreneur and business executive who co-founded Revolut, a financial technology company headquartered in London, in 2015. As the company's chief executive officer, Storonsky has overseen Revolut's growth from a prepaid card and currency exchange application into one of the largest digital banking platforms in Europe. Under his leadership, Revolut achieved a valuation of $75 billion in late 2025, making it Europe's most valuable private technology company. Storonsky's personal stake in the company has been reported at approximately 29 percent, placing his holding's value at nearly $25 billion. A billionaire, Storonsky has attracted public and regulatory attention not only for building one of the fintech industry's most prominent companies but also for his residency decisions, which in 2025 drew scrutiny from United Kingdom financial regulators.

Career

Founding of Revolut

Storonsky co-founded Revolut in 2015 during a period of significant growth in Europe's fintech sector. The mid-2010s saw a wave of financial technology companies emerging across the continent, challenging traditional banking institutions by offering digital-first financial services with lower fees and greater accessibility. Revolut initially launched as a prepaid card and foreign currency exchange application, targeting consumers who were frustrated by the high fees charged by incumbent banks for international transactions and travel spending. The company was based in London and quickly attracted users across the United Kingdom and continental Europe.

Storonsky's approach to building Revolut has been characterized by rapid product expansion and aggressive growth targets. From its origins as a currency exchange tool, the company broadened its offerings to encompass a wide range of financial services, including personal and business accounts, cryptocurrency trading, stock trading, savings products, insurance, and international money transfers. This expansion transformed Revolut from a single-product startup into what is commonly described as a "neobank" — a digital-only banking platform that operates without traditional branch networks.

Growth and Valuation

Under Storonsky's leadership as CEO, Revolut grew to become Europe's most valuable startup. The company's trajectory reflected the broader expansion of the fintech industry but also Storonsky's specific strategic emphasis on global scale and product diversification. Revolut expanded its operations beyond Europe, entering markets in Asia, Australia, and the Americas as it sought to build a global financial services platform.

By late 2025, Revolut's valuation had reached $75 billion, a milestone underscored by an investment round that included participation from Nvidia, the American semiconductor and artificial intelligence company. The investment from Nvidia came as part of a share sale and signaled broader interest in Revolut from major technology companies, not only traditional financial sector investors. The valuation placed Revolut among the most valuable private companies in the world and far ahead of other European fintech competitors.

Storonsky has continued to pursue further ambitions for the company, including the acquisition of a United States banking license, which would allow Revolut to offer a fuller range of banking services to American customers and compete more directly with established U.S. financial institutions. As of early 2026, Revolut was reported to still be seeking this license, which has been described as one of Storonsky's remaining major objectives for the company.

Stake and Ownership

Storonsky's personal ownership stake in Revolut has grown over time. By December 2025, his stake had increased from approximately 25 percent to around 29 percent, as he disclosed in an interview with The Bell. At the company's $75 billion valuation, this placed the value of his holding at nearly $25 billion. The increase in Storonsky's stake was notable in the context of the fintech industry, where founders frequently see their ownership diluted through successive funding rounds. The growth in his ownership percentage suggested that Storonsky had either acquired additional shares or that the structure of recent funding rounds had favored existing shareholders.

Storonsky's status as a billionaire has made him one of the wealthiest individuals in the British technology industry and among the most prominent figures in European fintech.

Regulatory Scrutiny and Residency Controversy

In October 2025, it was disclosed through a Companies House filing that Storonsky had changed his country of residence from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates. Reuters reported the move in October 2025, describing Storonsky as a billionaire who had left the UK for the UAE.

The residency change drew regulatory attention. TheBanker.com reported in December 2025 that Revolut was under additional scrutiny after it did not alert UK regulators before the corporate filing listed Storonsky as a UAE resident. The failure to notify regulators in advance of such a significant change by the CEO of a company holding a UK banking license raised questions about governance and communication between the company and its supervisory authorities.

The situation took a further turn in early 2026, when the Financial Times reported that Storonsky had reverted his listed residency back to the United Kingdom, approximately three months after the initial filing. The reversal was attributed to what was described as a "filing error." The Financial Times reported that regulators had raised concerns about the original residency change, and the reversion to UK residency followed these regulatory queries.

The episode highlighted the broader tensions between fintech executives and the regulatory frameworks governing financial services companies. For Revolut, which had spent years pursuing a UK banking license and had finally obtained one, the incident was significant because the residency of a CEO is a factor that regulators may consider in assessing the governance and control of a licensed institution. The UAE has become an increasingly popular destination for wealthy technology entrepreneurs, in part due to its favorable tax regime, but the move by Storonsky illustrated the potential complications when the personal decisions of fintech founders intersect with the regulatory obligations of the companies they lead.

Strategic Vision and Industry Impact

Storonsky's leadership of Revolut has been defined by an emphasis on building a comprehensive financial "super app" — a single platform through which users can access a broad array of financial products and services. This model, inspired in part by multi-service platforms popular in Asia, has driven Revolut's product development strategy and distinguished it from competitors that have focused on narrower product offerings.

The mid-2010s environment in which Revolut was founded was, as described by World Finance, a period when "a novel band of financial technology companies were rewriting the script" on financial services in Europe. Storonsky and Revolut were central figures in this transformation, which saw digital banking platforms grow from niche challengers into mainstream alternatives to traditional banks with millions of customers.

City AM, in a profile published in February 2026, described how Storonsky "co-founded Revolut in 2015 and disrupted the banking sector," noting that even after reaching a $75 billion valuation, Storonsky continued to pursue additional strategic goals, including the coveted U.S. banking license. The profile underscored the extent to which Storonsky's personal ambitions and the company's corporate trajectory have remained closely intertwined, with Storonsky serving as both the strategic architect and public face of the company throughout its history.

The investment by Nvidia in the company's 2025 share sale also reflected Revolut's positioning at the intersection of financial services and technology. The involvement of a major artificial intelligence company as an investor suggested that Revolut's technology infrastructure and data capabilities were seen as assets with value beyond traditional banking, potentially positioning the company for future applications of AI in financial services.

Personal Life

Storonsky holds both Russian and British nationality. He has been based in London for much of his career, consistent with Revolut's headquarters in the city. In October 2025, he changed his listed residence to the United Arab Emirates, a move disclosed through Companies House filings. However, in early 2026, his residency was reverted to the United Kingdom, with the earlier filing attributed to an error.

Storonsky's personal wealth, derived primarily from his approximately 29 percent stake in Revolut, has placed him among the billionaire class. At the company's $75 billion valuation, his holding was worth nearly $25 billion. He has been described as a billionaire in reporting by Reuters, the Financial Times, and other major publications.

Recognition

Storonsky's prominence derives primarily from his role as the founder and CEO of Europe's most valuable fintech company. The growth of Revolut to a $75 billion valuation placed Storonsky among the most prominent technology entrepreneurs in Europe and attracted coverage from major global financial publications including Reuters, the Financial Times, American Banker, and the Financial Times's banking publication TheBanker.com.

The $75 billion valuation achieved in the November 2025 share sale, which included investment from Nvidia, was reported as a significant milestone not only for Revolut but for the European technology industry as a whole, reinforcing Storonsky's standing as a leading figure in the global fintech landscape.

World Finance included Storonsky and Revolut in its reporting on "fintech fortunes," documenting the company's role in transforming European financial services. City AM's in-depth profile described Revolut as Storonsky's "$75bn fintech empire," reflecting the scale of the enterprise he built from its founding a decade earlier.

Legacy

Storonsky's impact on the financial services industry is most directly measured through the growth and influence of Revolut. From its founding in 2015 as a foreign exchange card, the company expanded under his leadership into a multi-product digital banking platform serving millions of customers across multiple continents. The company's $75 billion valuation as of late 2025 made it not only Europe's most valuable startup but also one of the most valuable private fintech companies globally.

The model Storonsky pursued — rapid product expansion, aggressive international growth, and the construction of a financial "super app" — influenced the strategies of numerous fintech competitors and contributed to a broader transformation in how consumers interact with financial services. The wave of European fintech companies that emerged in the mid-2010s, of which Revolut was among the most prominent, fundamentally altered the competitive landscape of retail banking across the continent.

However, Storonsky's tenure has also illustrated the challenges that arise when fast-growing technology companies operate within heavily regulated industries. The 2025 residency controversy highlighted the tension between the personal flexibility sought by technology entrepreneurs and the regulatory expectations placed on leaders of licensed financial institutions. The episode served as a case study in how the governance of fintech companies is scrutinized by regulators, particularly as these companies grow large enough to pose systemic significance.

As of early 2026, Storonsky continued to lead Revolut as its CEO, with the company pursuing further growth, including efforts to obtain a U.S. banking license and to expand its product offerings in existing markets.