Taavet Hinrikus
Taavet Hinrikus was the first employee hired by Skype. But in that role, he quickly encountered a problem that inadvertently led to the formation of one of London’s top fintechs, Wise.
Hinrikus worked in London, but was paid in euros; his friend Kristo Käärmann was paid in pounds but wanted to send euros back to Estonia.
While Käärmann has stayed at Wise, Hinrikus moved from CEO to chairman in 2017 - freeing up more time to focus on angel investment - before leaving the boardroom role as well in 2021.
Since then, he co-founded investment platform Plural and medical tech business Certific.
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