Nik Storonsky

Storonsky was born in July 1984 in Dolgoprudny, a town about 20 kilometres north of Moscow, in the Soviet era.⁠[1][2][3]

He earned a BS and an MS in Applied Physics and Mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and an MA in Economics from the New Economic School in Moscow. As a student he was also a keen athlete, a state champion swimmer who took boxing lessons.⁠[4][2]

Storonsky moved to London at 20 and has held British citizenship since 2004. He worked first as a trader at Lehman Brothers and then at Credit Suisse, trading emerging markets equity derivatives, with more than $2 billion traded across various options, swaps and foreign exchange instruments. He once observed that “if you fired 80% of bankers, nothing would change.”⁠[2][2][4][2]

Revolut Ltd was incorporated in England on December 6, 2013, and Storonsky has been a director of the company since that day.⁠[1][1]

In 2015, Storonsky co-founded Revolut with software engineer Vlad Yatsenko; it launched that July with the initial aim of transforming the way people spend and transfer money abroad, attracting travellers with fee-free currency exchange. Yatsenko became chief technology officer.⁠[4][4][5][2]

When Revolut completed a $250 million Series C led by DST GlobalDST GlobalDST Global is a technology investment firm founded by Yuri Milner in 2009 that focuses on growth-stage investments in internet companies worldwide; it has invested in companies including Facebook, Twitter, Alibaba, JD.com, Airbnb and Spotify, and in 2026 led the US$400 million Series B round of the AI visual content company Higgsfield.Open the full entry in April 2018, Storonsky said the company’s focus since launch had been “to do everything completely opposite to traditional banks,” adding that “banking has historically avoided disruptions by technology, but that is all about to change on a big scale.”⁠[5][5]

On September 13 of that year, he became a director of Revolut Trading Ltd. After Revolut obtained a European banking licence from the Bank of Lithuania in December, he said he wanted retail and business customers to be able to apply for a loan “in just two minutes” from within the app.⁠[1][1][6]

In February 2020, Revolut announced a $500 million Series D led by TCV at a $5.5 billion valuation. Storonsky said the company’s mission was to build “a global financial platform,” and that its next focus was rolling out banking operations in Europe, increasing the number of people using Revolut as their daily account, and “striving towards profitability.”⁠[7][7][7]

The group holding company Revolut Group Holdings Ltd was established on July 15, 2020; Storonsky has been a director since that day and is registered as a person with significant control of the company, holding more than 25% but not more than 50% of the shares and the right to appoint or remove directors.⁠[4][8][9][9]

In July 2021, Revolut completed an $800 million Series E co-led by SoftBankSoftBank GroupSoftBank Group (SoftBank Group Corp.) is an investment holding company headquartered in Tokyo, founded by Masayoshi Son in 1981. Starting out as a distributor of personal computer software, it moved into the internet, broadband and mobile communications, and has since become an investment group centered on AI-related assets such as Arm, the SoftBank Vision Funds and OpenAI.Open the full entry Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global at a $33 billion valuation. Storonsky said it was an endorsement of the company’s mission to create a “global financial super app.”⁠[10][10][10]

On September 6, 2021, Storonsky’s family company, Storonsky Family Ltd, was incorporated in England (company number 13605589), registered as providing services for private households’ own use; he holds 75% or more of its shares and voting rights.⁠[11][11][11][12]

From April 29, 2022, Storonsky was no longer registered as a person with significant control of Revolut Ltd; his control is recorded at the level of the group holding company, Revolut Group Holdings Ltd.⁠[13][13][4]

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Storonsky publicly condemned the invasion, and Revolut waived fees for transfers to Ukraine. He had held both British and Russian citizenship and renounced his Russian citizenship that year; a Revolut spokesperson said he considered the war “totally abhorrent” and remained resolute in calling for an immediate end to the fighting.⁠[14][3][3]

Storonsky was a director of Revolut Travel Ltd from February 14, 2017, and resigned on April 28, 2023.⁠[1][1]

By July 2024, Storonsky had founded the venture capital firm QuantumLight. The firm describes itself as “the first truly systematic venture capital firm,” using its in-house AI system Aleph to identify companies with tenfold growth potential; its portfolio includes Lovable and ElevenLabsElevenLabsElevenLabs is an artificial intelligence audio company founded in 2022 by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski. Starting from voice generation, voice cloning, and dubbing tools, it has built ElevenCreative for creators, the enterprise conversational agent platform ElevenAgents, and the developer interface ElevenAPI, and also operates music generation and voice licensing businesses.Open the full entry, and it has two funds, Fund I and Fund II. Storonsky is listed as founder, and the chief executive is Ilya Kondrashov.⁠[15][15][15][15][15][15][15][2]

In the 2024 annual report, Storonsky wrote that Revolut received a UK banking licence (with restrictions) that year, achieved its fourth consecutive year of profitability, and welcomed new investors through a secondary share sale at an implied $45 billion valuation, becoming the most valuable private technology company in Europe.⁠[16][16][16]

On October 7, 2025, Storonsky Family Ltd filed a form with Companies House changing Storonsky’s country of usual residence from the UK to the United Arab Emirates, with a change date of October 16, 2024. The filing drew media attention, and officials at the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority sought an explanation from Revolut as to why they had not been informed.⁠[12][12][17][18]

In January 2026, a second filing by the family company was published, correcting his country of residence to the UK and stating that his UK residency had remained unchanged throughout the period. Storonsky had dismissed reports of his UAE residency as “fake news,” saying his business required extensive travel between Dubai, London, Barcelona and Latin America, and attributed the confusion to his family office using a Dubai correspondence address. A Revolut spokesman said he divides his time between the UK and the company’s key international regions, that his role and responsibilities were unchanged, and that his registered details at Companies House remained in the UK. As of October 2026, Companies House lists his country of residence as the United Kingdom.⁠[19][18][20][20][20][18][18][21]

From November 12, 2025, Storonsky’s registered name at Companies House changed from NIKOLAY STORONSKY to NIKOLAY STORONSKIY; his identity was verified under Companies House identity verification on December 19, 2025.⁠[22][22][1]

In March 2026, Revolut’s UK bank received approval from the Prudential Regulation Authority to exit the mobilisation phase. Storonsky said launching the UK bank “has been a long-term strategic priority for Revolut” and a vital step in the company’s mission to build “the world’s first truly global bank.”⁠[23][23][23]

In his letter in the 2025 annual report, signed on March 12, 2026, he wrote that Revolut had more than 70 million customers and a long-term goal of 100 million daily active customers in 100 countries, adding: “Even at our current scale, we believe we are only at the beginning of our mission.”⁠[4][4][4][4]

In July 2026, Revolut began a new secondary share sale, with Bloomberg reporting a valuation of $115 billion. In an internal message to staff, Storonsky said he was glad employees had another opportunity to realise liquidity on their shares and that the company’s momentum over the past twelve months had attracted significant demand from new and existing investors.⁠[24][24][24]

In August 2026, Revolut Bank S.A. received a French banking licence; Storonsky said it would provide the foundation to build “the next generation of banking” for more than 30 million customers in Western Europe.⁠[25][25]

The same month, Revolut wrote to investors proposing changes to its articles of association that would raise the cap on Storonsky’s borrowing against his shares from $50 million to $250 million and remove the requirement for board approval of larger share pledges; a person familiar with the matter said he owns about 29% of the group. Storonsky has said his incentive package could increase his stake to about 40% if Revolut reaches a $200 billion valuation, and he is in discussions over a new pay deal tied to a valuation of about $500 billion. Revolut said the amendments were a routine update so that its articles reflect the business’s current scale and valuation.⁠[26][26][26][26][26][26][26]

In September 2026, Revolut received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for its national bank charter application. Storonsky said it was “an important first step” towards establishing the proposed Revolut Bank US, giving the company a foundation to build in the world’s largest financial market.⁠[27][27]

As of October 2026, Storonsky is chief executive and co-founder of the Revolut group and a director of Revolut Group Holdings Ltd, Revolut Ltd, Revolut Trading Ltd and Revolut Technologies S.A. (since June 5, 2019), and a member of the group board’s Nominations Committee. The board delegates day-to-day management of the group to him, and the 2025 annual report names him as the group’s ultimate controlling party and the only person with significant control registered at Companies House.⁠[4][4][4][4][4]

Revolut: Official website: https://www.revolut.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]

QuantumLight: Official website: https://www.quantumlightcapital.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[15]