N26 co-founder Valentin Stalf is leaving his role as chief executive of Germany’s most valuable fintech and will join the group’s supervisory board, following tensions between investors and the entrepreneurs who started the business. The shake-up comes after the German financial watchdog BaFin identified concerns at the company, threatening to hit the bank with fresh sanctions last month — a move that sparked renewed tension between the co-founders and N26’s investors.
N26 today announced changes to its leadership team, where co-founder Valentin Stalf will step away from his operational responsibility as Chief Executive Officer and move to the N26 Supervisory Board after an initial transition period.
Valentin Stalf founded N26 together with Maximilian Tayenthal in 2013. Maximilian will remain in his current leadership role as a member of N26’s Executive Leadership Team and the Management Board of the N26 Group and N26 Bank. But one person familiar with the discussions told the Financial Times that Tayenthal was likely to step down from his operational role at a later stage.
Together, Valentin and Maximilian continue to hold almost 20% of the shares of N26 as co-founders.
Valentin’s appointment to the N26 Supervisory Board will be further strengthened by the appointments of additional members in the coming months, accompanied by further expansion of the N26 Management team. These new additions to N26’s leadership will build on the appointment of Jochen Klöpper, who starts as the bank’s new Chief Risk Officer at the beginning of December 2025.
The current members of N26’s Supervisory Board are Marcus W. Mosen (Chairperson), Déborah Carlson-Burkart, Peter Kleinschmidt and Jörg Gerbig.
Valentin Stalf, Chief Executive Officer of N26: „My move to the Supervisory Board is a forward-looking decision to continue to best utilize my many years of experience and knowledge to strengthen N26. I will actively and passionately contribute to N26’s long-term leadership and strategic direction and will remain one of the largest N26 shareholders. The new role also offers me the opportunity to devote more time to my family office and other entrepreneurial pursuits. N26 now has a strong team that is very well positioned for the future.”
Marcus W. Mosen, Chair of the Supervisory Board: „I first met Valentin, a pioneer in mobile banking, in 2013. I have tremendous respect for his entrepreneurial vision and achievements. Together with Max, he has turned N26 into an industry frontrunner and market-leading digital bank known across Europe. I look forward to continuing our cooperation.”
Christian Nagel, Partner of Earlybird Venture Capital and long-time N26 investor: „Earlybird is very grateful to Valentin for his visionary ideas and extraordinary achievements. It is remarkable what he and Maximilian have done to make N26 a top European digital bank, positively changing banking for millions of customers. We look forward to continuing the close cooperation with Valentin in his new role on the N26 Supervisory Board to shape the future of N26 together.„
Andrew McCormack, Founder and Managing Partner of Valar Ventures: „We’ve supported N26 since 2015, and are proud to remain a major shareholder. Valentin’s founder perspective is vital, and we look forward to working with him in his new role on the Supervisory Board.”
Twelve years since it was founded, N26 is today a leading player in digital banking in Europe, with a 1500-strong team helping millions of customers save, spend, invest and manage their money and mobile plans digitally. The change comes as N26 emerges from a defining year and looks ahead to the future.
The company broke even in summer 2024, delivering 40% revenue growth in its last financial year. With annual revenues now exceeding €500 million, N26 is expected to conclude the second half of the year profitably, driven by high customer activity and a constantly expanding product offering.
The digital bank is also continuing to expand its product portfolio to offer customers one of the most competitive and comprehensive accounts on the market. Today, N26 offers not just an all-rounded digital banking account, but also a range of wealth-building products for its customers, including a unique offer of fee-free trading, individual savings plans, and crypto investments. Together, these have seen trading volumes grow sevenfold year-on-year, with annual trading volume expected to exceed 4 billion euros by the close of 2025.
This year, N26 also entered the mobile communications industry, offering local mobile plans as well as international eSIMs for travellers covering more than 100 destinations. Customer demand has been strong, with approximately 8,000 to 10,000 new plans sold each month.
The product roadmap continues to accelerate, as N26 will soon introduce multiple new products, including an offer for families with a child’s account, card, and investment functionality; N26 ICON, a new premium subscription with exclusive partners, subscriptions and benefits; an all-new app design focused on holistic wealth management; and further AI driven improvements for better service and automation.
N26 is Europe’s leading digital bank with a full German banking license. It offers simple, secure and customer-friendly mobile banking to millions of customers in 24 markets across Europe. N26 processes over 140bn EUR in transactions a year and currently has a 1,500-strong team of more than 90 nationalities. The company is headquartered in Berlin, with offices in multiple cities across Europe, including Vienna, Paris, Milan and Barcelona. Founded by Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal in 2013, N26 has raised close to US$ 1.8 billion from some of the world’s most renowned investors.
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