Robinhood cuts about 10% of workforce, will keep hiring

Robinhood is cutting about 290 jobs, roughly 10% of its full-time workforce, CEO Vlad Tenev announced. The company had about 2,900 full-time employees as of Dec. 31.

The firm described the reductions as a proactive change taken from a position of strength and expects related charges of about $20 million for severance and benefits and roughly $8 million in share-based compensation to be recorded in the second quarter.

The personnel changes come amid recent company results: first-quarter net revenue of $1.07 billion, up 15% year over year, and net income of $346 million, or $0.38 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA rose 14% to $534 million, while operating costs grew 18% to $656 million. Robinhood also reported record June trading volumes across equities, options and prediction markets.

Tenev described the goal as creating a leaner organization with higher talent density so employees can take on greater impact and responsibility. He said the company plans to keep hiring elite talent and to rely on frontier technologies, citing company values of “Lean & Disciplined” and “High Performance.”

In a note to staff, Tenev wrote: “Robinhood’s business has never been stronger. But to achieve the massive scale of our mission, we cannot default to operating as a heavily-layered organization. We must be a lean, hyper-focused team where every single individual is empowered to make a massive impact.”

Robinhood will book the severance, benefits and share-based compensation charges in the second quarter and said it will continue hiring for select roles even as it reduces headcount in other areas.

The cuts follow layoffs this year at several firms with exposure to crypto and digital-assets: Dune Analytics reduced staff by about 25% in May, and Gemini has cut roughly 30% of its workforce while reporting full-year losses of $585 million.