Stock trading app Robinhood fires 713 employees, CEO says 'it's on me'

Silicon Valley-based online trading app Robinhood has sacked 23 per cent of its workforce, just three months after the fintech platform reduced its headcount by 9 per cent amid the global economic turmoil.

A 23 per cent reduction would amount to about 713 employees being laid off, leaving nearly 2,400 employees at the company, reports TechCrunch.

In a blogpost, Robinhood CEO and co-founder Vlad Tenev said that "employees from all functions would be impacted" and the layoffs are "particularly concentrated in the company's operations, marketing and programme management functions.

"As part of a broader company reorganisation into a General Manager (GM) structure, I just announced that we are reducing our headcount by approximately 23 per cent," Tenev said late on Tuesday.

"In this new environment, we are operating with more staffing than appropriate. As CEO, I approved and took responsibility for our ambitious staffing trajectory -- this is on me," Tenev said late on Tuesday.

Tenev also said that its earlier round of layoffs "did not go far enough."

Robinhood also disclosed its second quarter results, reporting net revenue of $318 million on a net loss of $295 million.

The Wall Street Journal said that Robinhood has been fined $30 million by a New York financial regulator, specifically on its cryptocurrency trading arm.

Tenev said that since the earlier 9 per cent layoff, the company has seen additional deterioration of the macro environment, with inflation at 40-year highs accompanied by a broad crypto market crash.

"This has further reduced customer trading activity and assets under custody," he added.

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