Mikko Salovaara has quit his role as group chief financial officer at digital banking firm Revolut.
He’s cited ‘personal reasons’ for his exit after just two years.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as Group CFO at Revolut and remain confident in the firm’s future success,” he said in a statement.
Revolut is the UK’s most valuable FinTich company and has been embroiled in a long process to receive a full UK banking licence.
The digital bank recently reported a £26.3m profit in long-delayed 2021 accounts but the news that Revolut had tripled its turnover was overshadowed by a report from its own auditor.
Turnover hit £636 million in 2021, up from £220m in 2020, thanks in part to the cryptocurrency boom.
Crypto products brought in a third of those revenues and a £26.3m profit was a big improvement on the £223m loss from the previous year.
However BDO said it could not fully verify £477m of the 2021 revenues – including its foreign exchange and wealth department, which includes crypto – which means the turnover figure “may be materially misstated”.
Salovaara joined Revolut in January 2021 as VP Finance and became Group CFO in April 2021.
Revolut becomes profitable but red flags raised over revenue
As Group CFO, he led Revolut’s global finance function, working closely alongside the company’s CEO and founder, Nik Storonsky, to define and drive the company’s financial strategy and planning, to strengthen financial processes, systems and controls and to optimize the company’s capital structure and allocation, all with an aim of delivering sustainable growth.
Prior to joining Revolut, he spent five years with 3G Capital, three of which were with its portfolio company, Kraft Heinz, where he was CFO of Kraft Heinz China, Kraft Heinz APAC and Kraft Heinz US.
At 3G Capital, he focused on public and private investments, mainly in the global consumer goods industry. Before joining Revolut, he worked for Elliott Advisors (UK) Ltd, with a particular emphasis on public and private market strategies.
He holds a BA in Economics and a BA / MA in East Asian Studies from Yale University.
Nik Storonsky, CEO and founder at Revolut, said: “I thank Mikko for his contribution and wish him well on his next steps.”
Revolut was founded in 2015 by former Lehman Brothers trader Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko.
Storonsky became the UK’s youngest self-made billionaire in 2020.