Klarna is one of Europe’s most famous fintech exports. Since its founding in 2005, the Swedish company has helped mainstream its trademark buy now, pay later checkout option and is set to become a public company this year.
In the run-up to its IPO, it has bolstered its board with two new additions: Bolt founder and CEO Markus Villig and Klarna chief financial officer Niclas Neglen. That adds to the seven other directors on its board, which include long-time investors, a former Goldman Sachs director and an ex-Google exec.
Sifted mapped out all the board members that will steer Klarna towards its upcoming public listing.
So who’s on Klarna’s board?
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and board member since 2005
Sebastian Siemiatkowski is one of Klarna’s founders and has served on its board as the company’s chief executive officer since 2005.
The Klarna boss has been at the centre of the company’s internal divisions among senior management, with tensions between Siemiatkowski and his cofounder Victor Jacobsson bubbling to the surface. Last October, Klarna shareholders voted to oust director Mikael Walther from the board, who was seen as a key ally of Jacobsson.
Michael Moritz, board member since 2010
Michael Moritz heads up Klarna’s board and works directly with CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski to ensure the board receives an accurate picture of Klarna’s current position, financial plans and future development.
Moritz joined Klarna’s board in 2010 to represent the interests of Sequoia Capital, a long-time investor in the Swedish fintech. He became chairman of the board in 2020. The journalist-turned-VC has served on the board of companies such as PayPal, Google and Stripe. Following his resignation from Sequoia in 2023, Moritz maintains his position on the board.
Lise Kaae, board member since 2020
As the current CEO and former chief finance officer of Heartland, the investment entity of retail clothing chain Bestseller, Kaae brings an understanding of the retail and finance sectors to Klarna’s board.
Sarah Smith, board member since 2020
Smith, who formerly served as managing director of Goldman Sachs and subsequently led its accounting and compliance operations, is also a board member for mobility tech Via and insurance provider Aon.
Omid Kordestani, board member since 2020
Kordestani is a serial board member who’s sat at the top table of some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Spotify, Twitter (before it was rebranded as X) and Vodafone.
Outside of these roles, he spent a decade at tech giant Google, joining the nascent search engine in 1999 and rising to the role of chief business officer. He is also chairman of educational publisher Pearson.
Roger W. Ferguson Jr., board member since 2021
Ferguson Jr. is the former president and CEO of TIAA — a leading retirement services provider in the US. He sits on several high-profile boards, including Alphabet, Google’s parent company. He’s also no stranger to guiding a board through crisis — his stint as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors involved coordinating its initial response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Andrew Reed, board member since 2024
A partner at Silicon Valley stalwart Sequoia since 2014, Reed sits on the boards of some of the world’s best-known tech companies, including fitness app Strava, mobility startup Bolt and investment platform Robinhood.
Markus Villig, board member since 2025
Markus Villig is one of Klarna’s newest additions to the board — along with CFO Niclas Neglen — and will have to juggle the position with his day job as the founding CEO of Estonian mobility company Bolt.
Niclas Neglén, board member since 2025
Before joining Klarna as CFO in 2021, Neglén cut his teeth as an audit manager at GE Capital, a successor company to the disbanded American multinational General Electric. A five-year stint at HSBC followed, where he rose through the ranks to become COO for the company’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) division.
The man charged with overseeing Klarna’s long-awaited IPO, the company announced Neglén had been appointed to the company’s board of directors earlier this week, citing his two decades of experience in financial services.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/klarna-board-ipo/
