Sebastian Siemiatkowski
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Sebastian Siemiatkowski (also spelled Sebastian Siemiątkowski; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish entrepreneur who is the co-founder and chief executive officer of fintech company Klarna. In 2022, his net worth was estimated at $3.2 billion as Klarna's valuation increased although he is (as of 2025) no longer a billionaire.[1]
Early life
Siemiatkowski's parents moved to Uppsala from Poland in the 1980s.[2] He was born on 3 October 1981[3] in Sweden but his older sister was born in Poland.[4][5]
Siemiatkowski considers himself as a second generation immigrant. His early influences were Richard Branson and Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA. Siemiatkowski credits the Swedish digital policy of subsidizing the ownership of computers for his success because it allowed his family to acquire their first computer.[4]
Education and career
Siemiatkowski attended high school at Katedralskolan, Uppsala.[6] He holds a master's degree from the Stockholm School of Economics.[7]
He started building Klarna at age 23[8] and co-founded the company with Niklas Adalberth and Victor Jacobsson in 2005. Siemiatkowski had met one of his co-founders when working at Burger King.[7]
In 2021, he was minted as a billionaire as Klarna's valuation increased to $31 billion.[9] In 2022, as Klarna laid off 10% of its employees as it experienced financial difficulty, Siemiatkowski publicly posted a list of employees who were recently dismissed by the company publicising their email addresses in the process.[10] This was criticised as tone deaf by commentators.[11] The Swedish Financial Sector Union expressed regret to have learnt about the job cuts from the media rather than being consulted beforehand and sued the company over the layoffs.[12] In December 2024, he stated that the company would not increase headcount because "AI can do all of the jobs that we humans do. It’s just a question of how we apply it and use it”.[13]
Personal life
Siemiatkowski married Nina, a marketing executive he first met while attending the Stockholm School of Economics, in 2014. She is the founder of a digital platform to connect donors with local nonprofits and played a key role in identifying a marketing agency that created Klarna's branding.[14] They have three children and live in Stockholm.[15][14]
References
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