Monzo CEO TS Anil will step down from his role in February to make room for former Google and Standard Chartered executive Diana Layfield to lead the U.K. fintech, according to a LinkedIn post Thursday.
Anil and Monzo’s board met Layfield while searching for candidates to serve as the fintech’s U.K. CEO, according to the post.
“Through our conversations, it became clear to me that she’d be a fantastic leader who could drive the business at the global level, into this next chapter and beyond,” Anil wrote. “So while it wasn’t in my plan, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss for Monzo.”
Anil will move into an advisory role when Layfield takes over, he said.
His step away from day-to-day leadership also mirrors his own experience when he took over as Monzo’s CEO, Anil said.
“It’s always been my belief that great leaders make way for others – it’s something that’s been done before at Monzo when the baton was handed to me, and it’s why the business will continue to go from strength-to-strength under Diana’s leadership,” Anil told Bloomberg in a statement.
Anil joined Monzo in February 2020 as U.S. CEO but ascended to the top role of the whole company when co-founder Tom Blomfield stepped down three months later.
Layfield, for her part, said it’s “hugely exciting” to join Monzo and deliver on the company’s “potential in the UK and internationally.”
She spent nearly nine years at Google – most recently, as the company’s general manager for search international and growth – before leaving in January, according to her LinkedIn profile. She previously served as StanChart’s Africa CEO for more than four years.
“I’ve admired Monzo for many years. The team’s passion for innovation and focus on the customer have been distinctive, and they have delivered incredible progress under TS's leadership,” she said in a statement seen by tech.eu.
Gary Hoffman, Monzo’s board chair, said Anil “has led with values and integrity throughout and has nothing but my gratitude and respect for all that he’s achieved and the brilliant foundations that have set Monzo up for the future.”
“In almost six years under his leadership, Monzo has transformed from a startup to a major player with more than 13 million customers, a much-loved bank, and one-to-watch on a global scale,” Hoffman said in a statement.
Anil’s departure comes as Monzo considers a stock market listing. The fintech is working with Morgan Stanley on a series of meetings with potential investors ahead of an initial public offering, Sky News reported.
However, Anil and the fintech’s board disagreed on where to list, according to the Financial Times, which reported the CEO favored New York, while directors were leaning toward London.
Monzo may also revive plans to become a licensed lender in the U.S. to boost its growth there, according to the Financial Times.
An IPO would likely value the fintech at between £6 billion and £7 billion, Sky News reported.
“The exciting years ahead will see us continue to scale our ambition: more customers, more products and more parts of the world will have Monzo, while we become a generational company for our customers, colleagues and shareholders,” Anil wrote on LinkedIn.
