Bored Investment Banker Builds $6.7 Billion Fortune With A Hot App

"As a banker I'd already reached the maximum," Nikolay Storonsky, who traded equity derivatives for both banks in London, told Bloomberg four years later. "It became very boring."

Nikolay Storonsky took seven years to finally quit investment banking, working at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse Group AG during his 20s before exiting the industry in 2013. "As a banker I'd already reached the maximum," Storonsky, who traded equity derivatives for both banks in London, told Bloomberg four years later. "It became very boring." It was partly career malaise that prompted Storonsky, who's originally from Russia, to co-found Revolut Ltd., which provides online financial services. Last week, Revolut raised $800 million from investors, including SoftBank Group Corp. and Chase Coleman's Tiger Global Management, at a $33 billion valuation. At that level, Storonsky's stake is worth about $6.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The latest financing will partly back the expansion of Revolut into the U.S. and its entry to India, according to a company statement last week.