Sources: Crypto Exchange Kraken Has Fired Its CFO, Stephanie Lemmerman, Ahead of Its Long-Awaited IPO; Lemmerman Joined Kraken From Dapper Labs in November 2024 (Ian Allison/CoinDesk)

Why It Matters

A CFO departure on the eve of an IPO can destabilize investor confidence and delay regulatory approvals, potentially impacting Kraken’s valuation and market debut.

Key Takeaways

• Kraken dismisses CFO Stephanie Lemmerman.
• Dismissal occurs weeks before planned IPO.
• Lemmerman joined from Dapper Labs in Nov 2024.
• CFO exit raises questions on financial readiness.
• Market speculation spikes on leadership turmoil.

Pulse Analysis

Kraken’s decision to fire its chief financial officer comes at a pivotal moment as the exchange prepares to list on a major U.S. exchange. The CFO role is central to navigating the complex regulatory landscape that governs digital asset firms, especially after the SEC’s heightened scrutiny of crypto‑related IPOs. By removing Lemmerman, who was tasked with aligning Kraken’s financial controls with public‑market standards, the company signals either a strategic shift or internal discord that could affect the timing and pricing of its offering.

Investors are likely to reassess Kraken’s readiness for a public debut, given that CFO turnover often triggers deeper audits of financial statements and risk management practices. The move may prompt the board to appoint an interim finance leader with a proven track record in public offerings, which could restore confidence but also delay the filing of the S‑1 prospectus. Moreover, the departure could invite additional questions from regulators about the firm’s governance structures, potentially leading to more rigorous disclosure requirements before the IPO can proceed.

The broader crypto sector has seen a wave of executive exits as firms grapple with market volatility and the pressure to meet traditional financial standards. Kraken’s leadership shake‑up underscores the challenges crypto platforms face when transitioning from private to public markets. For stakeholders, the key takeaway is to monitor subsequent appointments and any revisions to the IPO timeline, as these will be strong indicators of the exchange’s ability to meet investor expectations and regulatory obligations.

Sources: crypto exchange Kraken has fired its CFO, Stephanie Lemmerman, ahead of its long-awaited IPO; Lemmerman joined Kraken from Dapper Labs in November 2024 (Ian Allison/CoinDesk)

Techmeme: Sources: crypto exchange Kraken has fired its CFO, Stephanie Lemmerman, ahead of its long-awaited IPO; Lemmerman joined Kraken from Dapper Labs in November 2024 (Ian Allison/CoinDesk)

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February 10, 2026, 3:10 PM

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| Juro Osawa / [The Information]: |

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[xAI co-founder Tony Wu says he “resigned”, following co-founder Igor Babuschkin's exit in August 2025; Wu was in charge of reasoning and reported to Elon Musk] — Tony Wu, one of xAI's cofounders, said he has resigned from Elon Musk's AI company.

More: [Benzinga], [Gizmodo], [CNBC], [The Decoder], [Implicator.ai], [Bloomberg], [Business Insider], [Wall Street Journal], and [WinBuzzer]

X: [@yuhu_ai_], [@himanshustwts], [@ns123abc], [@aiandcloudtech], [@umbisam], [@theo_wayt], [@alvaromysterio], [@llmjunky], [@yuchenj_uw], [@hadas_gold], [@ricburton], [@scobleizer], [@urvicodes], [@thedaviddosu], [@trace_cohen], [@factorydoge69], [@daniel_mac8], [@alexia], [@graceihle], [@teortaxestex], and [@seconds_0]. Forums: [r/singularity]

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Carmen Arroyo / [Bloomberg]: [Tony Wu Becomes Latest xAI Co-Founder to Leave Musk's Startup]

[Business Insider]: [Elon Musk's xAI loses another cofounder]

Becky Peterson / [Wall Street Journal]: [Top Tesla Executive Leaves Carmaker]

Markus Kasanmascheff / [WinBuzzer]: [xAI Loses Fourth Cofounder as Tony Wu Resigns from Musk's AI Startup]

X:

[@yuhu_ai_]: [I resigned from xAI today. This company - and the family we became - will stay with me forever. I will deeply miss the people, the warrooms, and all those battles we have fought together. It's time for my next chapter. It is an era with full possibilities: a small team armed]

Himanshu / [@himanshustwts]: [this isn't looking good [image]]

Nik / [@ns123abc]: [Sir, our FOURTH co-founder has left xAI.." [image]]

[@aiandcloudtech]: [Anthropic is still the only AI company that has managed to retain 100% of their cofounders.]

[@umbisam]: [Wow. YTW is a xAI co-founder. My guess: team didn't like the X merge first & SpaceX acquisition later.]

Theo Wayt / [@theo_wayt]: [Another xAI co-founder is out Leading up to the SpaceX merger last week, Elon Musk had grown frustrated with delays to new Grok models, we've reported. https://www.theinformation.com/ ... [image]]

Alvaro Mysterio / [@alvaromysterio]: [Why is top talent leaving @xai ? @elonmusk [image]]

[@llmjunky]: [xAI seems like it's completely cooked. I don't know how you can recover at this point. Grok 4.2 is going to be dead before it arrives. Kinda sad.]

Yuchen Jin / [@yuchenj_uw]: [xAI co-founder left xAI. I believe this makes it the 4th co-founder to leave. Also Greg Yang is sick. Still wish xAI can build top models.]

Hadas Gold / [@hadas_gold]: [Another xAI cofounder leaves the company. (caveat of there's lots of movement among AI execs)]

Richard Burton / [@ricburton]: [Private secondaries markets have totally changed the way talent moves in Silicon Valley Now if you pick the right company you can be set for life in 2-3 years Vesting agreements will have to change [image]]

Robert Scoble / [@scobleizer]: [When leadership goes it usually means the boss isn't happy with their progress. Not good though.]

Urvashi Jain / [@urvicodes]: [After @SpaceX merger, most of the co-founders are quitting @xai , this isn't looking Good. Something is fishy 🤔 [image]]

David Dosu / [@thedaviddosu]: [This keeps being truer and truer. [image]]

Trace Cohen / [@trace_cohen]: [$100M seed round coming soon...]

[@factorydoge69]: [they banned him for speaking the truth @styngdn [image]]

Dan McAteer / [@daniel_mac8]: [He really didn't like the idea of going to the Moon before Mars, did he?]

Alexia Bonatsos / [@alexia]: [They're dropping like AI company co-founders.]

Grace Kay / [@graceihle]: [Tony Wu is the fourth cofounder to leave xAI in the past year. He led the reasoning org and began reporting to Elon Musk last year. XAI underwent a reorg a few weeks ago and cofounder Guodong Zhang took over some of Wu's responsibilities, insiders said.]

[@teortaxestex]: [Many people are leaving labs with tons of resources (while legends from pre-AI software are joining the labs). What is most remarkable to me is that the first group seems confident they'll build new companies outside. Anthropic folks are skeptical about that.]

[@seconds_0]: [This is now a full leadership turnover at xAI]

Forums:

[r/singularity]: [One of the cofounders of xAI leaves the company]

| Ashley Stewart / [Business Insider]: |

| --- |

[Slack messages: some staffers complained about Marc Benioff making jokes about ICE at a Salesforce event, including about ICE surveilling employee travel] — - Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff made jokes about ICE during an employee event, internal messages show. — Some employees took to Slack to express anger and disappointment.

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X: [@sachalouise]. Threads: [@mattnavarra]

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[Meta Newsroom]: [Animate Your Facebook Profile Picture With Meta AI]

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Sacha Haworth / [@sachalouise]: [the judge in the OTHER Big Tech trial brought by AGs & school districts just denied Meta & Google's attempt to end the case before a jury could even weigh the evidence. AGs & school districts are claiming negligence & public nuisance. we have a trial, folks. #BigTechonTrial [image]]

Threads:

Matt Navarra / [@mattnavarra]: [Your Facebook Photo Can Now Wave at Friends — Literally — Thanks to Meta AI 👋 — Meta is adding AI-powered tools that animate your Facebook profile picture — You can pick presets like wave, confetti or party hat to match their mood …]

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Ed Bott / [ZDNET]: [Your PC's critical security certificates may be about to expire - how to check]

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Tom Warren / [@tomwarren.co.uk]: [Microsoft is automatically replacing boot-level security certificates on Windows devices before they start expiring later this year. The new Secure Boot certificates will be rolled out as part of the regular Windows platform updates www.theverge.com/tech/876336/ ...]

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[See also Mediagazer]

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