Fintech star Neal Cross is leaving DBS after five years and countless prizes for the Singapore-based bank's digital efforts. Where is he headed?
«So long, and thanks for all the fish,» tech evangelist Neal Cross wrote on his LinkedIn profile on Monday – pinched from sci-fi writer Douglas Adams. The fintech star is leaving his job as chief of innovation for Singapore-based bank DBS after five years – but not saying goodbye altogether.
Cross, who refers to himself as «semi-wild» and lives in a beach shack in Indonesia on his weekends, told finews.asia in 2016 he would like to «leave banking and engage more in meaningful social activities.» He had recently bought a coral reef off northern Sumatra to expand a non-profit he set up devoted to protecting orang utans.
He is doing that – but keeping a foot inside the world of start-up and fintech. He will live mainly in Indonesia where he oversees two hotels, one devoted to land conservation and the other to oceanic protection, he said.
Eccentric Background
He also plans to write a book about building one of the hotels and how it applies to corporate innovation and advise on projects in Asia and elsewhere in- as well as outside of finance. And Cross will also take the chairman's job at Picture Wealth, an Australian wealth fintech he co-founded with David Pettit several years ago which manages $100 million.
The British-born Cross, who reportedly taught bodyguards kung fu and worked as a DJ before landing a corporate job in Australia, thanked DBS CEO Piyush Gupta as well as data and transformation chief Paul Cobban and tech boss Dave Gledhill «for trusting me and giving me the space and air-cover to do my careers work.»
