Former NICE CEO Barak Eilam to Become Chairman of British Fintech Giant Wise
Former NICE CEO Barak Eilam is joining the board of British fintech firm Wise Group and is slated to become chairman in April, succeeding David Wells.
Almost two years after stepping down as CEO of NICE, Barak Eilam is set to return to a senior leadership role at another Nasdaq-listed firm. British fintech company Wise Group has announced Eilam's appointment to its board of directors, with plans for him to assume the role of board chairman.
Global Expansion and Nasdaq Listing
Wise, a London-based provider of international money transfer services, is traded on both the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, having recently joined the US exchange at a market capitalization of approximately $11.7 billion. Current chairman David Wells is scheduled to step down in April, and Eilam—initially appointed as a director—is slated to succeed him. The company noted that Eilam is an experienced technology executive and director with nearly three decades of expertise in building and scaling global tech enterprises.
Eilam served as CEO of NICE for a decade, from 2014 to 2024, before being succeeded by Scott Russell. During his tenure leading NICE, he received cumulative compensation totaling approximately $147 million, of which $122 million consisted of equity-based rewards. In addition to his upcoming role at Wise, he serves on the boards of other companies, including Israeli tech firm Similarweb and Payoneer, which recently announced its acquisition by Canada's Nuvei for $2.75 billion, a deal that has not yet been finalized.
Leadership Perspective
Wise is one of the most unique and important technology companies in the global financial services sector. The team has built an extraordinary business that combines a strong value proposition for customers with a technology-driven and scalable model.
Wise co-founder and CEO Kristo Käärmann stated that he was deeply impressed by what Eilam built at NICE over a 25-year career, noting that Eilam started as an engineer and helped transform the company into a global leader in cloud-based enterprise software. Aside from announcing the appointment, Wise has not yet disclosed details regarding Eilam's compensation package.
