The Estonian entrepreneur Kristo Käärmann, the co-founder and chief executive of Wise, has been named among the 100 wealthiest people in the United Kingdom, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
Käärmann is ranked 89th in the list, a significant rise for the Estonia-born fintech founder whose wealth is tied largely to his stake in Wise, the London-based international payments company he co-founded with Taavet Hinrikus.
According to the Sunday Times, Käärmann’s holding in Wise has averaged gains of more than £1 million a week. The ranking places him firmly inside Britain’s richest 100 – a notable milestone for an Estonian entrepreneur whose company began as a practical response to the high cost of moving money between countries.
Hinrikus, Wise’s other Estonian co-founder, is also on the list, ranked joint 161st. The Sunday Times notes that Hinrikus has since focused on investing in other technology start-ups.
From TransferWise to a global fintech company
Wise was launched in London in 2011 as TransferWise, a peer-to-peer money transfer start-up founded by Käärmann and Hinrikus. It began by offering transfers between the British pound and the euro before expanding into a global financial technology business serving customers across multiple currencies.
Before starting Wise, Käärmann worked as a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers, focusing on banks and insurers. Käärmann and Hinrikus developed the company after becoming frustrated by the inefficiency of cross-border money transfers.
Wise was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2021, by which time it had become one of Europe’s most recognisable fintech firms. Although headquartered in London, the company has retained a substantial presence in Estonia, making it one of the clearest examples of an Estonian-founded technology business scaling into a global enterprise.
A rise accompanied by boardroom tension
Käärmann’s rise in the Rich List comes after a period of tension between Wise’s founders. According to the Sunday Times Rich List entry, Hinrikus last year accused Käärmann of a “backdoor” power grab over changes to shareholder voting rights. Wise argued that the structures were intended to deliver better returns for shareholders.
Käärmann has also faced regulatory scrutiny in Britain. In October 2024, the UK Financial Conduct Authority fined him £350,000 for failing to notify the regulator of significant tax issues linked to an earlier HM Revenue and Customs penalty. The FCA said his failure to notify it was careless rather than deliberate or reckless.
The Sunday Times Rich List is not limited to British citizens, but ranks the wealthiest people and families who predominantly live or work in the UK.
