Boss of Goldman-backed digital bank Starling to step down next month
Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden.
Starling Bank
The co-founder of Starling, one of the U.K.’s largest digital banks, is set to step down as CEO next month, the company said Thursday.
Starling, which is backed by U.S. investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, is one of the most prominent fintechs in the country with a user base of 3.6 million customers.
Anne Boden is to step down on June 30, according to a press release. She will hand the reins to Starling’s chief operating officer, John Mountain, who has been with the bank since 2015.
“I have spent nearly a decade here as both the founder and CEO, a dual role which is unique in U.K. banking,” Boden said in a statement Thursday. “It’s been all-consuming and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
“Now that we have grown from being an aspiring challenger to an established bank, it is clear the roles and priorities of a CEO and a large shareholder ultimately differ and require distinct approaches. As Starling continues to evolve and grow, separating my two roles is in the bank’s best interests.”
Starling reported annual revenue of £453 million ($600 million) for the year to March 31, 2023, more than doubling from 2022, with pre-tax profits of £195 million, a sixfold increase year over year.
Total lending stood at £4.9 billion, up from £3.3 billion. Customer deposits increased 17% to £10.6 billion.
Boden, who co-founded Starling in 2014, took the startup from a tiny challenger in banking to a major player in the U.K.’s financial scene.
The often outspoken CEO has been a key voice behind the U.K. government’s attempt to make it an established fintech hub.
She is also a staunch critic of social media’s role in online fraud as well as a prominent crypto skeptic.
On a call with reporters Thursday, Boden said the main thing that triggered her decision was concerns that her significant shareholding in the firm could create a conflict of interest.
Boden owns a 4% stake in Starling.
She added that it was herself, not the company’s board, that initiated conversations about her departure.
Starling has raised a total of £946.5 billion to date from investors including Goldman Sachs, Fidelity and the Qatar Investment Authority. The bank was last valued at £2.5 billion.
In response to a CNBC question Thursday, Boden said that, were the firm to raise capital today, its shares would not decrease in value from their last price.
Asked how her plans to step down may impact Starling’s path toward an initial public offering, Boden said the IPO market is currently closed and the firm is in no immediate hurry.
The U.K. has received plenty of criticism from top tech bosses over its tech listings environment — earlier this year, the CEO of Revolut said he would never list in London.
Boden said that Starling has not yet taken a decision on a listing venue for its eventual public offering, however the U.K. was likely to be the place in which it debuts.
“We need to keep our options open. This is not the right time to make a decision on listing venue, however we’re a U.K. bank and a very successful U.K. bank,” Boden said.
“Customers love us and the default situation would be a U.K. listing because of the consumer enthusiasm for a brand that is as powerful as Starling.”
Intel snapped a losing streak of six straight quarterly losses and returned to profitability in the third quarter.
In its first earnings report since the Trump administration acquired a 10% stake in the company, the U.S. chipmaker posted strong revenue, noting robust demand for chips that it expects to continue into 2026.
Client computing revenue, which includes chips for PCs and laptops, grew 5% year over year, benefiting from PC market stabilization and artificial intelligence PC prospects.
CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a call with analysts Thursday that artificial intelligence “is a strong foundation for sustainable long-term growth as we execute.”
The chip strength and demand were bright spots, but there were areas of concern as well, with the company’s foundry business still needing a big break.
Here are three takeaways from the chipmaker’s Q3 report:
Cash flow
“We significantly improved our cash position and liquidity in Q3, a key focus for me since becoming CEO in March,” Tan said on a call with analysts Thursday.
Intel landed an $8.9 billion investment from the U.S. government in August, along with $2 billion from Softbank, but has not yet received the $5 billion tied to a deal with Nvidia. The company expects that deal to close by the end of Q4.
With all of those transactions completed, plus the Altera sale, Intel will have $35 billion in cash on hand, CFO David Zinser told CNBC.
The U.S. government is the company’s biggest shareholder, and Intel stock is up more than 50% since Aug. 22, when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the deal.
“Like any shareholder, we have to keep in touch with them,” Zinser said of the U.S. stake. “We don’t tell them how the numbers are going before the quarter. We generally talk to them like Fidelity,” another Intel shareholder.
Intel 3-month stock chart.
Foundry
The firm’s foundry remains a work in progress.
Revenue fell 2% over the year before, and it has yet to land a major customer.
Intel now has two fabs running 18A nodes, which are designed for AI and high-performance computing applications.
“We are making steady progress on Intel 18A,” Tan said of its latest chip technology. “We are on track to bring Panther Lake to market this year.”
Zinser said the more advanced 14A nodes won’t be put in supply until the company has “real firm demand.”
Old stuff still selling
Zinser said the company’s older chipmaking processes, or nodes, have continued to do well, “and that was probably the part that was more unexpected.”
Zinser said the chipmaker met some of the central processing unit (CPU) demand with inventory on hand, but they will be behind in Q1, “probably Q2 and maybe in Q3.”
The supply crunch has been with older Intel 10 and 7 manufacturing technologies.
Many customers are opting for less advanced hardware to refresh their operating systems, demonstrating enterprises aren’t waiting for cutting-edge chips when proven technology gets the job done.
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