Robinhood Reworked Its Business After Shares Fell Nearly 90%

Robinhood reorganized its business after shares lost nearly 90% in under a year, shifting authority to business leaders and pursuing steadier revenue beyond speculative trading as pandemic-era market conditions reversed.

Robinhood went public in 2021 at a valuation of about $32 billion, and its shares doubled during their first week. Inflation, rapid interest rate increases and falling speculative assets then reversed the forces behind the pandemic-era boom.

Co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev initially treated the slump as a market problem. He later concluded that the company still operated with a structure designed for near-zero rates, ample liquidity and a sudden pause in in-person commerce. He called the reset a refounding.

Robinhood’s workforce grew from about 700 employees at the end of 2019 to nearly 4,000 two years later. Hiring built infrastructure and controls for a public financial-services company, Tenev said, but also added management layers, split teams across functions and slowed decisions.

In the new structure, leaders of individual businesses took charge of engineering, product development, operations and financial performance. They also became accountable for product quality, operational stability, resource use, regulatory performance and business goals. Tenev said smaller teams moved faster and completed more work than he expected after staff cuts.

Tenev also reconsidered remote work and how the company made decisions. Robinhood moved employees back to six office locations, with most staff attending several days each week and senior leaders working onsite full time. He favored smaller teams and higher rewards for top performers.

The company’s strategy also moved beyond dependence on speculative trading. Tenev’s view was that experienced active traders kept trading as newer investors left, while higher interest rates created openings for other financial products. Robinhood strengthened tools for active traders and expanded into high-yield cash accounts, retirement accounts, banking and investment-advisory services, and credit cards. Robinhood Gold became central to the shift, with cash returns and rewards tied to retirement accounts.

Robinhood’s revenue reached $4.5 billion in 2025, up more than 50% from the previous year. Its market capitalization exceeded $100 billion, and it joined the S&P 500. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue was $1.31 billion, net income was $573 million and total platform assets were $369 billion. More than 10 of its businesses each had annualized revenue above $100 million.