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The growing payments company is adding financial heavyweights to its board of directors.
Fintech giant Stripe has added Mark Carney to its board of directors. The news comes just a few days after the San Francisco company – founded by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison – was reported to be planning a new primary funding round valuing it at more than $100bn.
Carney comes to the fintech’s board with a wealth of knowledge from the finance industry.
After a 13-year career with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices, Carney was appointed deputy governor of the Bank of Canada in August 2003. He then served as senior associate deputy minister of finance in Canada for almost three years, before being appointed governor of the Bank of Canada in 2008 as the global financial crisis was taking hold.
Carney helped organise the global response to the financial crisis as part of the G8 and G20 and he is said to have played a role in helping Canada weather the worst of the storm.
Speaking to CBC News in 2011, former TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond said Carney was “a giant on the international front”.
“He could literally get any job he wanted in financial circles anywhere in the world after that seven-year term [at Bank of Canada].”
Carney became the governor of the Bank of England in 2013 and served in that role until 2020. In October last year, he became vice-chair at Brookfield Asset Management, where he leads the firm’s environmental, social and governance and impact fund investment strategy. Carney was also appointed as the UN special envoy for climate action and finance.
Stripe co-founder John Collison said Carney’s “unparalleled experience” in financial services and central banking will be a major benefit to the company.
“From his desire to see faster settlement systems to his commitment to climate change mitigation, Mark’s values align with ours. We’re delighted he’s joining our board of directors.”
Earlier this month, Stripe rolled out Stripe Climate, its carbon removal purchase tool, to its global customer base.
Speaking about his appointment, Carney said: “The very nature of commerce has changed over the past decade. Stripe has been at the forefront of enabling this new digital economy, providing innovative and resilient global payment solutions to businesses large and small.
“In the process, Stripe has been breaking down barriers to global trade and accelerating economic output. I look forward to supporting Stripe over the coming years as they build the global infrastructure that enables the internet to become the engine for strong and inclusive economic growth.”
The addition of Carney to Stripe’s board follows another appointment at the beginning of the year. Christa Davies, who has served as executive vice-president of global finance and chief financial officer for Aon for more than a decade, was appointed to the board in January 2021.
