Simon Khalaf

Khalaf has more than 30 years of experience as an executive and entrepreneur in technology, has served as chief executive four times, and has held senior executive positions at Twilio, VerizonVerizonVerizon (Verizon Communications Inc.) is one of the largest telecommunications carriers in the United States, formed in 2000 through the merger of Bell Atlantic, one of the “Baby Bells,” and GTE. Headquartered in New York City, it operates a nationwide wireless network, Fios fiber broadband and communications services for businesses and government, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.Open the full entry, Yahoo and Novell; before Marqeta, his most recent chief executive role was at Flurry, before it was acquired by YahooYahooYahoo is an internet brand founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in 1994, with email, search, news, finance, sports, and advertising businesses. It developed from a web directory into a portal, underwent major acquisitions and security incidents, and sold its operating business in 2017, when the original listed company became Altaba. Apollo-managed funds acquired the brand’s operating business in 2021. Yahoo launched the AI answer service Scout in 2026.Open the full entry.⁠[1][2]

On July 22, 2014, Yahoo confirmed that it had bought Flurry, an analytics company serving mobile developers. Khalaf, then Flurry’s chief executive, posted the news on the company’s website that day, recalling the company’s history and thanking developers. He wrote: “Today, Flurry is entering a new phase of its life,” and “I am excited to announce that we have reached an agreement to be acquired by Yahoo.”⁠[3]

In June 2022 Khalaf joined Marqeta as chief product officer, and from that August he also led the company’s go-to-market organization; also in August, Marqeta announced that founder Jason GardnerJason Gardner (Marqeta)Jason Gardner is the founder of the card issuing platform company Marqeta, where he has served as executive chairman and is now a director.Open the full entry would become executive chairman.⁠[2][1]

On January 26, 2023, Marqeta announced that Khalaf would become chief executive officer effective January 31 and join its board of directors, with founder Jason Gardner becoming executive chairman. Khalaf said: “I'm humbled by the opportunity to build upon Jason's vision for modern card issuing,” and “I believe we have the recipe in place to unlock the next level of growth and scale for Marqeta.”⁠[2][1]

On June 20, 2024, the Andreessen HorowitzAndreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It invests from the seed stage through the growth stage and provides operational support to its portfolio companies.Open the full entry (a16z) fintech team released “In the Vault: New Applications in Fintech with PlaidPlaidPlaid is a financial technology company co-founded by Zach Perret and William Hockey and headquartered in San Francisco. It provides infrastructure connecting financial accounts with applications, with products spanning account verification, payments, lending and fraud prevention, and develops AI models for financial transactions. A planned acquisition by Visa was terminated in 2021.Open the full entry's Zach PerretZach PerretZach Perret is a fintech entrepreneur who co-founded the financial data network company Plaid with William Hockey in 2013 and serves as its chief executive; Visa agreed to acquire Plaid for $5.3 billion in 2020, but the deal was terminated in January 2021 after the US Department of Justice sued to block it.Open the full entry and Marqeta's Simon Khalaf” in its In the Vault podcast series, and the a16z YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel published the video as “Zach Perret (Plaid) & Simon Khalaf (Marqeta): New Applications in Fintech” the same day. Recorded at a16z’s Connect Fintech event and moderated by a16z general partner Angela StrangeAngela StrangeAngela Strange is a Canadian venture capitalist and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), focused on AI applications, fintech and insurance. She proposed that “every company will be a fintech company.” Before joining a16z, she was a Google product manager who launched Chrome for Android and iOS.Open the full entry, the conversation between Khalaf, then CEO of Marqeta, and Plaid CEO and co-founder Zach Perret covered how AI will shape banking, the battle between payment rails in the United States, the opportunity to turn the basic credit card into a fully digital product, and open banking and sponsor banking regulation.⁠[4][5]

In the conversation Khalaf said: “I just want to celebrate the moment that a payment vehicle became a digital product.” He also said: “I hope in the next two years, the word fintech will disappear and it will be embedded finance.”⁠[4]

On February 26, 2025, Marqeta announced that Khalaf had stepped down as chief executive officer and as a director; chief financial officer Mike Milotich was appointed interim CEO effective immediately while remaining CFO, and the board began a search for a permanent chief executive. Khalaf said: “It has been a privilege to serve as Marqeta's CEO.”⁠[6]