Online lender Social Finance has been on the hunt for a new CEO since September, when cofounder Mike Cagney abruptly resigned in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Today, SoFi confirmed that its new leader will be Twitter COO Anthony Noto, who starts March 1.
Noto, a former Army Ranger and Goldman Sachs banker, joined Twitter in 2014 after helping take the company public. His resume checks two boxes that were likely top priorities for SoFi’s board: experience managing IPOs and experience dealing with capital markets. In addition, Noto’s Army tenure suggests discipline, a quality that the company lacked under Cagney’s leadership.
Interim CEO Tom Hutton, a member of the board, has maintained SoFi’s lending momentum. In 2016, the company issued $4.2 billion in loans. Last year, it issued $6.9 billion, even while embroiled in scandal. But the company has struggled to deliver on many of Cagney’s more sweeping promises, including his plans for international expansion. In October, it withdrew its bank license application.
As fate would have it, SoFi is finally ready to deliver on one of Cagney’s ideas: a checking account and debit card, dubbed SoFi Money. SoFi’s existing members, now 444,000 strong, will have first dibs on the launch.
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