Blythe Masters resigned as chief executive officer of Digital Asset on December 18, 2018. She had run the firm for three years, since 2015, the company said in a release. “Digital Asset, the leading provider of distributed ledger technology (DLT), announced today that Blythe Masters, the company's CEO since 2015, has requested to step down as CEO for personal reasons,” the release said1. CoinDesk reported on December 18, 2018, that Masters would stay on as a shareholder, strategic advisor and board member2.
Five of Digital Asset's 9 leadership moves on the record came in 2018, its busiest year
Leadership moves CryptoLately has verified at Digital Asset, by year
- 2018: 5
- 2019, 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 |
Two CEO exits on the record in 2018
CEO exits CryptoLately has verified, by year
- 2018: 2
- 2016, 2017, 2019, 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 |
A departure announced with its successor named at once
Digital Asset filled the CEO seat on December 18, 2018, as well. AG Gangadhar had joined the company's board in April 2018. He was named board chairman and acting chief executive on the day Masters's resignation went public, the release said1. CoinDesk reported that Gangadhar brought experience from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Cruise and Uber2. Masters wrote a note to employees that CoinDesk quoted. “Working as part of the DA family means the world to me, but I also work for my family's future and I need to focus on this for a while,” she wrote.
Masters named what she thought Digital Asset had become in her own statement. “Digital Asset has evolved from an ambitious idea to a truly global software engineering firm. We are fortunate to have a deep bench of accomplished executives on the management team and Board, including AG, who have the requisite experience to take the company to the next level,” she said1. Michael Bodson, president and chief executive officer of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation and a Digital Asset board member, thanked her in a statement the release carried. “On behalf of the Digital Asset Board, I would like to thank Blythe for her leadership and vision, which has propelled the company from a promising startup to a globally recognized leader in DLT,” Bodson said.
What came next
Gangadhar's turn as acting chief executive lasted three months. Digital Asset announced on March 19, 2019, that its board had voted to promote co-founder Yuval Rooz to the permanent CEO role, a press release distributed through Finextra said3. Rooz had served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Gangadhar stayed on as executive chairman, the release said, closing the interim arrangement Digital Asset had set up the day Masters resigned.
Sources
- "Blythe Masters Steps Down As CEO Of Digital Asset," Digital Asset via Mondo Visione, December 18, 2018, https://mondovisione.com/media-and-resources/news/blythe-masters-steps-down-as-ceo-of-digital-asset-20181219/
- Nikhilesh De, "Blythe Masters, CEO of Blockchain Startup Digital Asset, Is Stepping Down," CoinDesk, December 18, 2018, https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2018/12/18/blythe-masters-ceo-of-blockchain-startup-digital-asset-is-stepping-down
- "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