How Nikolay built the fortune
Nikolay Storonsky's fortune comes almost entirely from his stake in Revolut, the financial technology company he co-founded in 2015 with Vlad Yatsenko, a software developer who became its chief technology officer. The idea grew out of Storonsky's frustration with the fees banks charged when he spent money abroad and exchanged currencies. Revolut's first product was a prepaid card linked to a mobile app that let users hold several currencies and convert them at interbank rates.
The app spread quickly among travellers and young professionals in the United Kingdom and Europe. Revolut then added features at a fast pace: current accounts, share trading, cryptocurrency trading, savings products, business accounts, insurance and subscription plans. It obtained a European banking licence in Lithuania in 2018 and expanded across the European Economic Area and to other regions, including Australia, Japan, Singapore and the United States.
After years of losses, the company turned profitable in 2021 and has grown revenue strongly since, helped by interest income on customer deposits, card fees, trading and paid plans. In July 2024 it received a UK banking licence with restrictions, a long awaited step that allowed it to begin building up a British bank. Storonsky owns the largest single stake in the company, and secondary share sales arranged by Revolut have given employees and early investors opportunities to sell shares at rising valuations.
The company's growth strategy has relied on launching products quickly and refining them later, an approach that helped it win customers but also brought scrutiny from regulators over compliance controls in some markets.
Companies and holdings
Storonsky's main asset is his holding in Revolut, which operates from its headquarters at Canary Wharf in London. The group includes several regulated entities:
- Revolut Bank UAB, its European bank licensed in Lithuania.
- Revolut NRB, the UK bank that received its licence with restrictions in 2024.
- Licensed businesses in markets such as the United States, Australia, Brazil, India and Mexico, where it has pursued banking or payments licences.
Revolut's investors have included Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, TCV, SoftBank and Tiger Global. Storonsky has said he wants the company to become a global financial super app used by hundreds of millions of people, and Revolut has continued to expand into new countries and products such as mortgages and private banking services.
Early life and career
Storonsky was born in 1984 in Dolgoprudny, near Moscow. His father, Vladimir Storonsky, was a senior manager in the Russian gas industry. Nikolay studied physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and economics at the New Economic School in Moscow. As a young man he was a competitive swimmer and boxer, and he has often spoken of his liking for intense physical training.
After university he moved to London to work in finance. He joined Lehman Brothers as a trader in 2006 and, after the bank's collapse in 2008, moved to Credit Suisse, where he traded equity derivatives. He left investment banking in 2013 to work on his own startup ideas, which led to Revolut. He became a British citizen, and his background in trading shaped Revolut's early focus on cheap currency exchange and fast moving product development.
In the early days Storonsky and Yatsenko built the first version of the app with a small team in London, using the Seedcamp accelerator programme as an early backer. Storonsky put a large part of his own savings into the company and took on the role of chief executive, which he has held ever since.
Philanthropy and public life
Storonsky is known for a demanding management style and for setting ambitious targets, both of which have drawn attention in the press. In 2019 reports described long hours and high pressure at Revolut, which the company addressed with changes to its practices. He also publicly criticized British regulators and the London stock market at times, arguing that the UK made it hard for fast growing tech companies, and he has said Revolut may list in the United States.
He has not been known for large public philanthropic programmes. He has spoken out against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Revolut organised donation features for Ukrainian relief in its app in 2022. In 2025 company filings showed that he had changed his country of residence from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates, while remaining chief executive of the London based company.