Earlier this yr, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse responded to controversy surrounding XRP actions by saying that Ripple can't management the worth of
Earlier this yr, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse responded to controversy surrounding XRP actions by saying that Ripple can’t management the worth of its related token any greater than Bitcoin (BTC) whales management the worth of the seminal cryptocurrency.
Relating to Ripple’s relationship with XRP, he mentioned, “Within the XRP neighborhood, Ripple is the most important proprietor, and the purpose I’ve made is we’re essentially the most occasion within the success of the XRP ecosystem.” He added that Ripple would by no means dump its XRP holdings into the market, as doing so is just not within the agency’s greatest pursuits.
Since taking the helm of the payments-focused fintech firm in 2015, Garlinghouse has overseen its fast enlargement into new markets, the launch of latest subsidiaries and associates, and defended Ripple in public controversies.
Yahoo and a loathing for peanut butter
Earlier than becoming a member of Ripple in 2015, Garlinghouse held numerous distinguished positions within the tech and fintech house. After receiving his bachelor’s diploma from the College of Kansas and a grasp’s in enterprise administration from Harvard Enterprise Faculty, Garlinghouse held positions at Yahoo, AOL and file-sharing web site Hightail.
At Yahoo, Garlinghouse occupied a number of senior administration positions, together with the function of senior vp, and in 2006, he authored the “Peanut Butter Manifesto,” which was subsequently published within the Wall Road Journal.
Within the manifesto, Garlinghouse known as for a radical reorganization of Yahoo’s construction, likening small investments throughout myriad tasks and departments to a layer of peanut butter unfold thinly throughout a bit of bread. Garglinghouse wrote, “I hate peanut butter. All of us ought to.”
After criticizing the dearth of readability and decisiveness at Yahoo, he known as for a shakeup that might streamline and decentralize varied facets of the agency.
In 2012, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer gave a nod to the manifesto with the “PB&J program,” which sought to remove unnecessary paperwork throughout the agency, equivalent to obligatory workers orientation on the health club.
Garlinghouse then moved to AOL, which he reportedly left as a result of — like Yahoo — the agency unfold its sources too skinny throughout a number of tasks. At Hightail, he served as CEO however stepped down in 2014, reportedly attributable to variations in opinion with the board of administrators concerning a number of buyout provides that the corporate had obtained.
His distaste for organizational cruft and choice for laser-focused mission would switch and serve him effectively at Ripple.
Increasing Ripple’s community and clientele
In November 2016, Chris Larsen, then CEO of Ripple, stepped down from the function to get replaced by Garlinghouse. On the time, the brand new CEO stated that Ripple might stake its place on the planet by making monetary companies extra accessible worldwide:
“I feel there are plenty of fascinating corporations, however there aren’t that many corporations that may take their little dent within the universe. […] I feel what Ripple is doing is not only, hey, how will we allow banks — it’s a broader effort in how will you allow an Web of Issues and related units which are financial actors to go a pair pennies. As we speak we essentially can’t try this in an environment friendly means except I’m handing you 2 pennies. Whether or not you discuss Africa, or underbanked communities, these are all examples the place Ripple can change the way in which society works.”
Below Garlinghouse’s management, Ripple has expanded quickly, signing on numerous companions worldwide. As of October 2019, Ripple had a reported 168 prospects comprised of 118 banks, 16 remittance/cash switch companies, seven overseas alternate corporations, two cryptocurrency exchanges, 11 funds suppliers, six software program and know-how companies, and eight others, together with worldwide auditing {and professional} companies big Deloitte.
Ripple entered into numerous vital partnerships with main monetary service companies in 2019 alone. In June, Ripple announced that it signed a strategic partnership with cash transmission community MoneyGram, whereby MoneyGram would have the ability to draw as much as $50 million {dollars} from Ripple in alternate for fairness.
MoneyGram then mentioned that it will use Ripple’s xRapid product, which permits cash to be despatched in a single foreign money and immediately settled in one other, utilizing XRP tokens as a automobile for faster cross-border transfers.
In October, the third-largest monetary companies know-how agency on the planet, Finastra, partnered with Ripple with the intention to give its prospects — which embrace 48 of the highest 50 banks worldwide — entry to the RippleNet blockchain community.
PNC Treasury Administration, the eighth-largest financial institution in america, started utilizing RippleNet in August 2019 for cross-border funds.
Defending Ripple from controversy
Whereas Ripple has expanded quickly beneath Garlinghouse’s management, the agency has additionally develop into a goal for some within the cryptocurrency neighborhood, who declare that it’s not sufficiently decentralized and…