Digital Asset's board voted on March 19, 2019, to name co-founder Yuval Rooz chief executive, effective immediately1. The vote ended AG Gangadhar's run as acting chief executive, a post he had held since December 18, 2018. Gangadhar moved into the role of executive chairman and agreed to keep advising the leadership team, Digital Asset's announcement said.
The second CEO exit at Digital Asset on the record since 2018
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Digital Asset, by year
- 2019: 2
- 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 5 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1 |
Seven CEO exits on the record in 2019
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2019: 7
- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 11 |
The move
Gangadhar explained the choice in an email to employees that Digital Asset's announcement quoted directly. “I have had the privilege of working very closely with Yuval over the past year. Along with the rest of the Board, I feel very strongly that Yuval's strategic agility, business acumen, missiondriven orientation and deep belief in our people and products make him uniquely qualified to lead Digital Asset successfully into the future,” Gangadhar wrote1. He called the moment exciting for the company. “This is a very exciting time for our company and I am encouraged by the significant progress we are making on several fronts,” Gangadhar added.
Rooz answered with his own statement on the promotion. “It is an honor to be appointed CEO at this exciting and pivotal time for the industry and our company,” Rooz said1. He pointed to the software at the center of Digital Asset's pitch. “I'm proud of our outstanding team and the progress we've made recently, especially with DAML, which will have a profound effect on how people exchange information and transfer value,” Rooz said.
Rooz's path to the job
Rooz co-founded Digital Asset and was one of its first employees when the company opened for business in 2014, Digital Asset's announcement said1. He served as chief financial officer and then chief operating officer before taking the chief executive title, and in the COO role he hired the majority of Digital Asset's executive leadership, the announcement said. Before Digital Asset, Rooz ran an algorithmic trading desk at DRW Trading, the Chicago firm led by Digital Asset co-founder and board member Don R. Wilson, Ledger Insights reported2. Michael C. Bodson, DTCC's chief executive and a Digital Asset board member, praised the choice. “Yuval has helped build Digital Asset from the ground up and has the strategic vision, deep industry relationships, and technical expertise to continue growing the business and driving innovation in the development of distributed ledger solutions,” Bodson said.
What came next
Rooz led Digital Asset through two funding rounds within a year of taking the job. CryptoPotato reported on February 5, 2020, that Digital Asset had closed its second $35 million round in two months, a Series C, with Samsung Venture Investment Corp and Salesforce Ventures among the investors, and added Susan Hauser, a former Microsoft corporate vice president, to its board the same month3. Rooz tied the new money to DAML's standing in the industry. “Salesforce Ventures and Samsung joining our Series C financing round demonstrates the potential that technology giants see in DAML as the standard for smart contracts,” Rooz said.
Sources
- "Digital Asset names company co-founder Yuval Rooz as CEO," Digital Asset (via Finextra), March 19, 2019, https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/77713/digital-asset-names-company-co-founder-yuval-rooz-as-ceo
- "Digital Asset promotes COO Yuval Rooz to CEO," Ledger Insights, March 19, 2019, https://www.ledgerinsights.com/digital-asset-ceo-enterprise-blockchain/
- Jordan Lyanchev, "Samsung and Salesforce Participate In $35M Funding Round For Blockchain Company," CryptoPotato, February 5, 2020, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipwFBVV95cUxNVVJpeGhIeFktdUdDV0kxVE9xN3Vubi1MT1ByVVRxMHNOam1lU25haHBRVm1vZmZjOGc2VzVpWXUzZjE1aEU5ay11Ymg2UmxmSk1Lb1lTYkJwVXdXVVg3QmhqQWR4d1pGSDVYTkk5MWZmQ2hMZGFCbDVwYTJ3YUk1TUVZWkdiLTJDQXpjalhER0J5VHV1S3ZKRWdTTC11b2ZGS1BTejl1QQ?oc=5