Acorns Grow Inc. has hired former Amazon.com Inc. executive David Hijirida as its new president ahead of the savings and investing startup’s initial public offering, which will be part of its merger with a blank-check company, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday (Sept. 15).
Hijirida joins Acorns after 12 years at Amazon and a subsequent stint at digital bank Simple, which owner BBVA recently closed. He joins Acorns about a month after the Irvine, California-based company hired Rich Sullivan away from Twitter to be chief financial officer.
Hijirida “will be a great addition to our team at Acorns as we take the next step to our future,” Acorns Chief Executive Officer Noah Kerner said in a phone interview with Bloomberg.
Kerner will shift his attention to building Acorns’ brand and expanding the company, both across the U.S. and around the world. The company is valued at about $2.2 billion, and its IPO is expected to launch by the end of 2021.
Related: Acorns Names Twitter’s Rich Sullivan As New CFO
Sullivan, who led corporate finance and financial planning and analysis for Twitter as part of his more than two decades of experience in corporate finance, treasury, mergers and acquisitions and investor relations at STX Entertainment, DreamWorks Animation and AT&T, joined Acorns in anticipation of its public listing on the Nasdaq exchange.
Acorns has helped its 4 million subscribers invest more than $9.6 billion since its inception.
Jasmine Lee, who served as Acorn’s chief operating officer (COO) and CFO before Sullivan’s arrival, has shifted her attention to the company’s strategic plan and overseeing the day-to-day operations as COO.
Acorns announced plans to go public in May as part of a deal with Pioneer Merger Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company that is traded on Nasdaq. The combined company will be traded as Acorns Holdings on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
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