David Vélez Osorno

David Vélez was born in Medellín, Colombia in 1981 and moved to Costa Rica at age 8 due to violence. He studied Management Science & Engineering at Stanford and worked at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic, and Sequoia Capital before founding Nubank in 2013. His decision to start Nubank was triggered by Sequoia's cancellation of its Brazil expansion plans and his personal frustration with Brazil's banking bureaucracy. Vélez's single most important early decision was recruiting co-founders who filled his gaps: Junqueira for Brazilian banking expertise and Wible for technical leadership.

David Vélez was born in Medellín, Colombia, studied engineering and earned an MBA at Stanford, and worked at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital before founding Nubank in 2013. He has been CEO since founding and also chairs the board of Nu Holdings. He and his wife Mariel Reyes signed the Giving Pledge in 2021.