Open banking fintech Plaid names Eric Hart as first chief financial officer
US-based open banking fintech Plaid has appointed Eric Hart as its first chief financial officer (CFO) amid growing speculation around the company’s plans to potentially go public.
Eric Hart is Plaid’s first CFO
With a career spanning 25 years, Hart joins Plaid from Expedia, where he served for more than 13 years in a number of senior positions, most recently as its CFO from December 2019 to October 2022. His earlier work experience includes stints at Lake Capital, The Boston Consulting Group, Merrill Lynch and Accenture.
In a LinkedIn post, Zachary Perret, co-founder and CEO of Plaid, welcomed Hart to the team, describing him as an “incredible leader” with “many years of experience building Expedia into one of the largest platforms in the world”.
Hart’s arrival has led to speculation from the media that the company may be laying the foundations for a potential initial public offering. A company spokesperson has since told TechCrunch that while it may consider going public in the future, it has no immediate plans for an IPO and cannot share a timeline for it.
Plaid last raised an undisclosed amount of funding as part of its Series D extension in August 2021, valuing the firm at $13.5 billion – eclipsing the $5.3 billion price tag Visa had offered in 2020 to acquire the fintech in a deal that was later called off.
