Taavet Hinrikus

Taavet Hinrikus was the first employee at Skype in 2003, joining the small team that built the peer-to-peer voice communications platform that disrupted international telecoms. His experience at Skype—where a small team used distributed infrastructure to undercut incumbent carriers—informed his approach to building Wise. Hinrikus was paid in euros while living in London, creating the personal pain point that became Wise's founding mission. His defining decision was to apply the Skype model of peer-to-peer matching to currency exchange, avoiding the correspondent banking system entirely in the early days. Hinrikus served as Wise's first CEO and was the initial draw for investors; Seedcamp's Reshma Sohoni noted that Saul Klein, who had worked with Hinrikus at Skype, would back him blindly. Hinrikus handed the CEO role to Käärmann in 2017 to focus on angel investing and recently launched a new investment fund. He stepped down as chair in July 2022, replaced by David Wells.

Taavet Hinrikus is the co-founder of Wise plc and was its first CEO. An Estonian entrepreneur, he joined Skype as its first employee in 2003 and later served as director of strategy, giving him firsthand experience in building peer-to-peer infrastructure that undercuts incumbents. After leaving Skype, Hinrikus worked as an angel investor and advisor to multiple startups before co-founding TransferWise with Kristo Käärmann in January 2011. His personal need to convert euros to pounds for London living expenses—and Käärmann's opposite need—created the peer-to-peer matching concept that became Wise's core innovation. Hinrikus was widely cited as the initial draw for investors, with his Skype pedigree providing credibility in a market where European fintech disruption was unprecedented. He served as CEO until 2017, when he handed the role to Käärmann to focus on investing. He remained chair until July 2022. In 2023, Hinrikus was ranked 197th on The Sunday Times Rich List with a net worth of $1,093 million, making him one of Estonia's first billionaires alongside Käärmann.