Nikolay Storonsky | |
|---|---|
Никола́й Никола́евич Сторо́нский | |
 Storonsky during the opening day of Web Summit at Altice Arena in Lisbon | |
| Born | 21 July 1984 |
| Other names | Nik Storonsky |
| Citizenship |
|
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Children | 4 |
| Father | Nikolay Mironovich Storonsky |
Nikolay Storonsky (born 21 July 1984) is a British billionaire entrepreneur and technology executive of Russian origin. [1] [2] He is the co-founder and CEO of Revolut, and the founder of venture capital firm QuantumLight.
Storonsky was born on 21 July 1984 [3] in Dolgoprudny, a town located about 20 kilometers north of Moscow's city centre [4] .
As a child, Storonsky boxed and swam, becoming a state champion later at his university. He is a kite surfer and a mountaineer in his free time. He started reading books on economics and business when he was six. [4] [5]
He completed his master's degree in general and applied physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 2007. [6] He graduated with another master's in applied economics and finance at New Economic School in Moscow in 2007 as well. [6] [7]
Storonsky moved to England in 2006 to start his career as an equity derivatives trader at Lehman Brothers in London, and later moved on to work at Credit Suisse where he continued until 2013 [7] . Storonsky acquired British citizenship in 2013. [8]
In 2023, Storonsky founded the venture capital firm QuantumLight. The fund uses a proprietary AI platform named Aleph to analyse startups and identify potential investments. The fund typically targets later-stage startups with proven traction. QuantumLight raised around US$250 million by 2025 [9] [10] [10]
Since 2023, Storonsky's family office has been developing a network of luxury villas and resort properties under the name Utopia. The venture focuses on high-end holiday destinations for kite-surfers and surfers in countries such as Spain, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. [11]
Storonsky founded Revolut Ltd in December 2013 and was also the company's first investor, contributing about £300,000 of his own savings to launch the project. [12] [13] The idea for the company arose from fees and commissions he encountered while traveling, leading to an initial concept of a multi-currency card with fair exchange rates. Several months later he invited software engineer Vlad Yatsenko, formerly of Deutsche Bank, to join as co-founder and CTO. A first prototype was completed in early 2015, and the app launched publicly in July 2015. [13] [14]
The idea of the company came when, while travelling, he experienced the transaction fees and commissions levied by banks. [15] His first idea was a multi-currency bank card that would allow currency conversion while traveling at a favorable rate. [16]
In 2017, Revolut obtained an e-money license in the United Kingdom. Following Brexit, the company secured an additional e-money license from the Bank of Lithuania in 2018 and, in 2019, was granted a restricted banking license in Lithuania. [17] [18]
In 2021, Revolut became the most valuable fintech firm in the UK. [19]
As of 2022, Revolut became a fully licensed bank under the authorisation of the European Central Bank. On 12 July 2024, Revolut was granted a UK banking license with restrictions by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. [17] [20] [21] As of 2025, the company remains in the mobilisation phase, during which it must demonstrate operational readiness before launching full banking operations in the UK. [22]
The company was valued at $45 billion as of August 2024. As of November 2024, the company has 50 million customers globally and more than 10,000 employees. [23] [24]
In May 2025, Revolut announced plans to apply for a full banking licence in France as part of its Western European expansion strategy. [25] It has also explored entering the United States banking market, either through the acquisition of a regulated institution or by applying for a national banking charter. [26]
The company was valued at $75 billion during a $3 billion fundraising round in October 2025, making it the most valuable private company in Europe and 8th most valuable private company in the world. [27] [28]
In the 2025 Forbes list, he was ranked 390th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$7.9 billion. [29]
He made the list of Time100 Next 2024 published by the Time Magazine. [30]
Former employees and media reports described tensions between the company's leadership and compliance staff, alleging that Storonsky sometimes prioritised product speed and user experience over regulatory caution. [31] In 2016, a whistleblower complaint to the UK Financial Conduct Authority claimed deficiencies in anti-money-laundering and sanctions controls and suggested that Storonsky had tolerated these shortcomings. [32] Revolut later stated that the issues were addressed in coordination with regulators and denied that its CEO ignored compliance advice. [33]
Storonsky's management style during Revolut's rapid growth has also drawn criticism. Several reports in 2018–2019 described a demanding, high-pressure work environment marked by long hours and ambitious targets. Some former employees characterised the culture as "intense" or "aggressive". [34] [35] [36] [32] Storonsky later acknowledged that the company had made mistakes and said Revolut had since improved its internal culture. [37]
Storonsky is married, with four children. [3] He condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine [38] and renounced his Russian citizenship. [39] In an open letter, he also pledged that Revolut will match for a limited time every donation made to the Red Cross in solidarity with victims of the war. [40]
His father, Nikolay Mironovich Storonsky, is a Ukrainian-born physicist and engineer from Lviv. He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and worked at VNIIGAZ , Gazprom's main scientific research centre for gas technologies, as a senior research fellow. Between 1999 and 2019, he served as deputy general director for science at Gazprom Promgaz, and in December 2019 became its CEO. [41] In October 2022, he was placed under Ukrainian government sanctions in connection with Russia's invasion of Ukraine because the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom. [39]
In 2019, Storonsky purchased a residence in West London for about US$25 million. [11] In October 2025, it was reported that he moved his residency from the UK to the United Arab Emirates. [42]