Rocket Companies announced Monday that fintech executive Varun Krishna will take over as CEO and Bob Walters will retire as president and chief operating officer.
Rocket’s Board of Directors appointed Krishna, who has experience at PayPal and Intuit, to succeed interim CEO Bill Emerson, who will continue to serve his role until Krishna steps into office Sept. 5. Emerson stepped back into the role as CEO when Jay Farner retired last month following two quarterly losses. Second-quarter earnings for the company will be announced Aug. 3.
"Varun is a visionary leader with a proven track record of helping consumers achieve financial freedom. Throughout his career, he has delivered innovative, technology-driven client experiences for complex personal transactions in large, fragmented markets," said Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Rocket Companies. "Varun's experience aligns perfectly with Rocket's vision, making him the ideal person to drive growth, strong performance and operational excellence at Rocket. On behalf of the entire Board and our team members, I welcome Varun as Rocket's new CEO."
The company also announced Walters will retire on Sept. 5, when he will step down from his roles as CEO of Rocket Mortgage and as president and chief operating officer of Rocket Companies. Krishna will succeed Walters at that time while Emerson will assume the roles of president and chief operating officer for Rocket Companies.
"Since joining Rocket Mortgage more than 26 years ago, Bob has built an exceptional team and strengthened our foundation to enable the company to grow in any market," said Gilbert. "His legacy as a leader and an expert in Capital Markets will leave a lasting impact on Rocket Mortgage and I thank him for the years of dedication to our business."
Who Is Krishna?
Krishna has 20 years of experience building consumer platform strategies for leading global fintech companies, including the consumer group of Intuit Inc. and PayPal. At Intuit, Krishna oversaw the organization's end-to-end suite of consumer and tax products and services, including TurboTax and TurboTax Live. Throughout Krishna's eight years with the company, TurboTax Live became the fastest growing product in Intuit's history.
Rocket Company and Intuit have a history. In 1999, Intuit acquired Rocket (then known as Rock Financial), before Gilbert and a group of private investors bought it back from them in 2002. The connection between the two companies continues to this day. In 2021, Rocket Mortgage partnered with Mint, a personal finance app by Intuit, that allows users to get approved for a home loan virtually.
Now the companies seem to be getting even closer with the former Intuit executive taking over Rocket Companies.
Prior to joining Intuit, Krishna served as senior director of product at PayPal, where he managed the company's global consumer product team.
He also held a variety of leadership roles within the TurboTax and Mint businesses, most notably as its senior vice president and general manager from 2020 to 2022. Looking further back, Krishna previously held multiple product leadership positions at Groupon and Betterworks and spent nearly a decade at Microsoft.
"I am honored to join the Rocket Companies team," said Krishna. "Rocket has a rock-solid foundation and tremendous potential, with its comprehensive ecosystem and industry-renowned technology, strong brand and award-winning client service. I look forward to working with Bill, the Board and Rocket's exceptionally talented team members to drive the company's future success and create long-term value for our stakeholders."
Where Is Rocket Heading Now?
A Rocket Companies spokesperson said they are not providing further detail on anything stated in the press release at this time. This, of course, leaves many to wonder why these changes happened and what it means for the future of Rocket.
But, if Krishna's work history suggests anything, it's that Rocket Companies will increase its focus on fintech advancement.
At the start of the year, Farner said the company’s goal is to become an online platform for consumers to manage all their finances in one location, and most importantly, one company.
“It's hard for clients to connect all of those experiences to manage their finances,” Farner said. “So there's a huge opportunity to place all of this on one platform.”
Given that Krishna has a successful track record working with similar fintech companies where consumers are managing certain aspects of their finances on a user-friendly platform, the soon-to-be CEO could help push Rocket in a similar direction.
During the first quarter earnings call, Farner noted that the number of Rocket accounts totaled 27.6 million, up 2 million from the previous quarter, which he attributed to the company’s Rocket Money app.
Rocket Money has been billed as a personal finance app that helps clients manage their financial lives. Specifically, Rocket Money offers clients a suite of financial services including subscription cancellation, budget management, and credit score improvement.
Additionally, the news of Walters's retirement could mean Rocket Mortgage is heading in a new direction. Krishna is taking over as Rocket Mortgage CEO, which signals that the company may be getting a fintech makeover. Also, the press release does not explicitly state whether Emerson's new role as president & COO of Rocket Mortgage is permanent, so he could be acting as the designated c-suite placeholder until the right person comes along — someone with Krishna's tech savvy mindset, perhaps?
