ADVERTISEMENT

Goldman’s Consumer Business Marcus Loses Executive to Stripe

Goldman’s New Consumer Business Loses Revenue Chief to Stripe

(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is losing a key executive in its fledgling consumer-banking business.

Colin Kennedy is leaving Goldman’s Marcus unit to join technology startup Stripe Inc., where he’ll be working on financial partnerships, a Stripe spokesman confirmed. He has been chief revenue officer and chief operating officer at Marcus, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Andrew Williams, a spokesman for Goldman, declined to comment on the departure, and said Kennedy was COO of the firm’s personal financial-management app.

Marcus is Goldman’s foray into consumer banking, a significant pivot from its focus on the biggest institutions and corporations for much of its existence. The unit offers personal loans and savings accounts, with eyes on expansion through other products, including credit cards. Goldman’s leaders, including Chief Executive Officer David Solomon, have identified Marcus as a key pillar of their plan to boost revenue in the next several years.

Stripe builds software and payment infrastructure that helps businesses accept money online and across borders. A funding round earlier this year pushed the the company’s valuation to $22.5 billion, making it one of the most valuable private startups. One of the year’s biggest initial public offerings, for Lyft Inc., offers promising signs for Stripe. Lyft, a Stripe customer, cited credit-card processing among costs that ate up more than half its revenue last year, according to a securities filing Friday.

Kennedy joined Goldman as part of its acquisition of Clarity Money, a personal finance startup founded in 2016 by Adam Dell, the brother of Michael Dell. Marcus has gradually integrated Clarity over the past year as the firm looks to expand its consumer offerings. Kennedy was tasked with building out the firm’s partnerships, identifying new product areas for Marcus and increasing revenue.

Prior to joining Clarity, Kennedy worked at American Express Co. on digital payments and partnerships.

To contact the reporters on this story: Julie Verhage in New York at jverhage2@bloomberg.net;Sridhar Natarajan in New York at snatarajan15@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Daniel Taub, Dan Reichl

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.