Ripple Hires Amazon’s Ex-CFO in Recent Strategic Growth Move

Warren Jenson will join the Ripple Board of Director as well as the company’s Audit Committee as the committee’s Chairperson.

Ripple continues to make strategic growth moves through expansions, the launch of new products and an extension of its workforce. The Silicon Valley company recently announced the addition of Warren Jenson, a celebrated financial expert who previously served as Amazon’s CFO, to its team.

In a recent tweet, Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, expressed his enthusiasm to welcome Jenson to the ever-expanding Ripple team. “Transparency and trust are the 2 hallmarks that drive crypto forward, and Warren’s decades of expertise here will be an incredible resource as we continue to grow globally,” Garlinghouse remarked.

Thrilled to welcome Warren Jenson to @Ripple’s Board and as the new Chair of our Audit Committee.

Transparency and trust are the 2 hallmarks that drive crypto forward, and Warren’s decades of expertise here will be an incredible resource as we continue to grow globally. https://t.co/6wNTHxuTAL

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) May 19, 2023

According to the official announcement, Jenson will join the firm as a member of its Board of Directors. In addition, the skilled financial expert will be incorporated into Ripple’s Audit Committee as Chairperson. The move represents Ripple’s attempt at growing with the rapidly-evolving crypto industry, the press release says.

As a seasoned financial expert, Jenson brings a wealth of experience to the Ripple team, having served at the frontline in several prominent firms. Notably, Jenson previously worked as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a number of leading companies, including NBC News (1992 to 1998), Amazon (1999 to 2002), and Electronic Arts (2002 to 2008). 

Jenson would not be the first Amazon ex-employee to join Ripple. As previously reported by The Crypto Basic, Devraj Varadhan, Amazon’s former Vice President of Delivery Experience, was hired by Ripple as the company’s Senior Vice President (SVP) of Engineering in December 2020 – a position Varadhan occupies to this day.

Ripple Expands Despite SEC Lawsuit

Jenson’s recent integration into the team comes a few months after Ripple appointed long-term employee Monica Long as its President. The firm also added Michael Warren, a former White House Senior Advisor, to its Board last year. Ripple still looks to expand its team, as evidenced in the numerous job openings it has on its careers page.

Besides the penchant to grow its team, Ripple has continued to make notable moves towards expanding its operations. CEO Garlinghouse recently disclosed that the firm has over $1 billion to deploy for an expansion into the custody and tokenization scene, as well as other industries. To this end, Ripple recently acquired Metaco, a Swiss-based digital asset and custody tokenization firm, for $250 million.

These expansion moves have prevailed despite the daunting Crypto Winter and the ongoing SEC lawsuit. Ripple seems perturbed by the negative effects of the Winter at a time when other crypto-focused companies such as Coinbase are laying off their employees.