Klarna seeks New York-based CFO as leadership transitions signal Wall Street focus
Key Takeaways
- •Niclas Neglén and David Sandström will leave their roles by early 2027 after Klarna announced a leadership transition.
- •Klarna cut its full-year revenue outlook to $4.08 billion-$4.16 billion, citing weaker retail spending in Germany.
- •The company reported second-quarter diluted earnings per share of $0.01, revenue of about $1.04 billion, and a surprise $9 million net profit.
- •Klarna shares fell about 22% on the day the changes were announced and dropped another 2.19% the following day.
- •Klarna said it is searching for a New York-based CFO, reflecting a closer focus on U.S. investors and the NYSE environment.

Good morning. Niclas Neglén helped take Klarna public in September 2025. Now, after six years as CFO, he is leaving alongside David Sandström, the company’s chief marketing officer of nearly a decade, in a leadership transition. The changes were announced on the same day Klarna lowered its full-year guidance and saw its stock fall about 22%. Both executives will transition out of their roles by early 2027.
Klarna, a Sweden-based buy-now-pay-later company, is a digital bank and payments provider with nearly 120 million global active users. Companies such as Apple, Nike, and Sephora offer Klarna as a payment option for their shoppers. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker KLAR. Klarna is backed by Sequoia Capital, which has invested in the company since 2010 and remains its largest institutional shareholder.
On Tuesday, the company reported second-quarter diluted earnings per share of $0.01, beating Wall Street’s expectations, while revenue increased 27% year over year to approximately $1.04 billion. Klarna also reported a surprise $9 million net profit. However, the company tempered expectations for full-year revenue and volume growth, cutting its full-year revenue outlook to $4.08 billion-$4.16 billion, citing weakness in German retail spending, its largest market in Europe.
Shares fell an additional 2.19% on Wednesday, closing the regular trading session at $14.73 per share.
“Transaction margin dollar guidance was raised for the full year but still fell short of our expectations,” Niklas Kammer, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, wrote in an analyst note on Wednesday. “Visibility into Klarna’s volume growth trajectory has declined, resulting in a material 2-percentage-point-per-year reduction in our volume growth expectations,” he wrote.
Neglén played a key role at Klarna, building the finance organization and taking the company public. He has been “a trusted partner to me and the board through six years of growth and change,” Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna, said in a statement. The company said it has begun a search for a New York-based CFO, a move that underscores how its public-company priorities are shifting toward closer proximity to U.S. investors and the NYSE environment.
Klarna also said the CFO and CMO transitions were not the result of any disagreement with the company on matters related to its operations, policies, or practices.
Shawn Cole, president and founding partner of executive search firm Cowen Partners, said the CFO change was a natural transition. Neglén’s tenure and accomplishments at Klarna are significant, he said, adding: “What the company needed to go public may not be what it needs as a public company.”
Cole also said that having the CFO based in London may have created some strain, especially now that Klarna is U.S.-listed. “The fact that the company called out New York in the press release is of note. Foreign companies often use New York as a prestige and capital-markets signal because of its proximity to investors, analysts, and the exchanges,” he said.
Cole said the CFO role now shifts toward a more strategic, external-facing finance leader with deep U.S. public company experience, capital markets expertise, credit and balance-sheet sophistication, and experience in banking and regulated financial markets. “That is not a difficult profile to find in New York,” he said.
Klarna’s new CFO will need to be a pro at navigating Wall Street.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com