Jessica Winter

Wise

Jessica Winter’s 2021 has been about one thing. That thing was Wise’s IPO and getting everything ready for it was the single biggest challenge she had undertaken in her career. It was Europe’s first-ever direct listing to a stock exchange and is now favoured by “move fast and break things” tech firms, as evidenced by Spotify using a similar method when it went public.

Enlisting the help of magic circle firm Linklaters, Winter’s task was to ensure everything went smoothly. A key differentiating factor of this listing was the insistence that Wise would list using a dual-class share structure and that everyone in the business would be given the chance to purchase both A and B class shares. So not only were the institutional investors given this, but so was everyone, down to the most entry-level workers in Wise’s structure.

With the listing now out of the way, Winter’s goal is ensuring her team can keep pace with the business’s growth. Forming a team that can maintain the fast-moving ethos of Wise is the newest challenge and one Winter is relishing.