Niclas Neglen became Klarna’s chief financial officer in early 2021, at the top of the fintech boom. That June the Swedish payments company raised $639 million in a round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 at a $45.6 billion valuation, as TechCrunch reported at the time. Thirteen months later it raised $800 million at $6.7 billion. Most finance chiefs never see a swing like that, and certainly not within 18 months of taking the job. Niclas Neglen did, and he then spent the next few years helping turn Klarna into a company that could list in New York. On 1 February 2027, subject to approvals, he becomes CFO of Adyen.

Stockholm, GE and a long apprenticeship

The early chapters are quieter than the Klarna years. Niclas Neglen graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics in 2002 with a master’s degree in economics and business administration. He went on to spend 13 years at General Electric in senior finance roles across several of its global businesses, rising to chief financial officer of GE Capital’s UK business.

From GE he moved to HSBC Private Bank as chief financial officer and chief operating officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, working from London. When Klarna announced his hire in September 2020, its communications chief pointed to his long experience of running finance teams at large international companies. He took over from Camilla Giesecke, CFO since 2017, who moved across to lead Klarna’s expansion work.

So Klarna, a founder-led growth company, hired someone who had spent close to two decades inside big, heavily regulated institutions. Within eighteen months that experience was being tested.

Niclas Neglen and the Klarna reset

The 2022 down round forced a change of direction. Klarna cut about a tenth of its workforce and scaled back its growth plans as investors turned away from loss-making tech companies, and the priority became profit. In the first half of 2023 it recorded a profitable month, its net loss fell 67 per cent year on year and credit losses dropped 39 per cent.

Niclas Neglen has been plain about where the company started. On Klarna’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call he said: “Three years ago, our transaction margin did not cover our adjusted operating cost.” By mid-2026 he could tell investors that roughly 56 cents of every additional transaction margin dollar was reaching the operating line.

From private company to the New York Stock Exchange

Chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski has credited Niclas Neglen with building the finance organisation that got Klarna ready for public markets. You can see that work in the run-up to the listing. In August 2025 Klarna agreed a forward flow deal with Nelnet for its US Pay in 4 receivables, then a €1.4 billion warehouse facility from Santander backed by German receivables, its first arrangement of that kind in Germany.

On 10 September 2025 Klarna listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It priced at $40 a share, above the $35 to $37 range it had set, raising about $1.37 billion and valuing the company at more than $15 billion. Two months later Klarna announced that funds managed by Elliott would buy its US Fair Financing loans, with about $6.5 billion expected to flow through the arrangement over two years. Niclas Neglen called it another major step in Klarna’s US growth.

How Niclas Neglen thinks about money

His comments to investors return to the same idea: growth matters, but the returns on it matter more. “We would rather protect our risk-adjusted returns than chase margin or volume,” he said in August 2026. He has also said Klarna tries to be as capital light and as capital efficient as possible, and that it plans its capital for the long term.

The quarter he was describing bore that out. Revenue rose 27 per cent to $1.042 billion, adjusted operating income reached $91 million and Klarna reported net income of $9 million, against a loss a year earlier, according to the Q2 2026 call transcript.

That same month Klarna said he would hand over in early 2027 and stay on its board while it looks for a New York-based successor. He said he was pleased the transition had been planned to give Klarna plenty of continuity, and Siemiatkowski called him a trusted partner through six years of growth and change.

What to Watch Next for Niclas Neglen at Adyen

Adyen nominated him on 22 September 2026 as CFO and a member of its statutory management board, effective 1 February 2027. Co-founder and co-CEO Pieter van der Does said his experience lines up exactly with where Adyen is in its growth journey and what it wanted in its next CFO. Interim CFO Hwa Tsao leads finance until then and will become senior vice president of group finance.

Niclas Neglen will not be walking in as a stranger. Adyen has offered Klarna’s payment methods for more than a decade and became one of Klarna’s acquiring banks in 2024. Fintechbits covered one recent result of that relationship, Klarna adding Fragrance.com through Adyen’s checkout, and Adyen’s own push into local payment methods such as Pix at airport counters in Brazil.

“Adyen has built an exceptional business, and I believe there is tremendous opportunity still ahead,” he said. Adyen says its standing financial objectives are unchanged. The thing to watch is the extraordinary general meeting at which shareholders will vote on his appointment, alongside approval from De Nederlandsche Bank. After that comes his first set of Adyen results, and the first chance to hear him set out those objectives in his own words.

Questions about Niclas Neglen

Who is Niclas Neglen?

Niclas Neglen is the chief financial officer of Klarna and Adyen’s nominated next CFO. A Stockholm School of Economics graduate, he spent 13 years in finance at General Electric and was CFO and COO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at HSBC Private Bank before joining Klarna in early 2021.

When does Niclas Neglen join Adyen?

Adyen has nominated him as CFO and a member of its management board from 1 February 2027, subject to a shareholder vote at an extraordinary general meeting and approval from De Nederlandsche Bank. He hands over at Klarna in early 2027 and stays on its board.

Who will replace Niclas Neglen at Klarna?

Klarna has not named a successor. It said it is looking for a New York-based finance chief, and that Neglen will stay on its board after he hands over in early 2027.

What did Klarna achieve while Niclas Neglen was CFO?

After its 2022 down round Klarna returned to profit, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2025 at $40 a share, and reported revenue of $1.042 billion and net income of $9 million in the second quarter of 2026.