Klarna Appoints Roger W Ferguson to Board of Directors

Payment processing and global retail banking platform Klarna announced on Tuesday it has appointed Roger W. Ferguson to its Board of Directors. According to Klarna, Ferguson is the former Vice President of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, as well as President and CEO of TIAA, the Steven A Tananbaum Distinguished Fellow for International Economics at the Council of Foreign Relations. He also served on President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and the Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Sebastian Siemiątkowski, CEO and Co-Founder of Klarna, spoke about the appointment by stating:

“I am honoured that Roger is joining the Klarna board. Roger brings tremendous leadership experience in the very top tiers of economics, finance and policy, his global perspective and expertise will be of immense value to Klarna at a time when the business is gaining such strong momentum, especially in the United States.”

Ferguson then added:

“Klarna provides a payment service that millions of  consumers value and hundreds of thousands of merchants rely on. I look forward to participating in the Klarna board in the continued successful implementation of the company’s  strategy.”

As previously reported, Klarna was founded in 2005 offers products and services to consumers and retailers within payments, social shopping, and personal finances. It enables consumers to make open payments quickly, easily, and securely; immediately, delayed, or in installments. The platform notably works with over 250,000 retailers including in Germany H&M, Spotify, MediaMarkt, Expedia, Nike, and Deutsche Bahn. 

Klarna also recently raised $1 billion through its equity funding round to accelerate international expansion and further capture global retail growth.  Klarna revealed that the round, which subscribed four times the amount it originally sought to raise, included a combination of new and existing investors. The company’s valuation is now $31 billion and it is claiming to be the highest-valued private fintech in Europe and second-highest worldwide.