According to U.Today, David Schwartz, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Ripple, recently shared some insights about his work and personal decisions on the social media platform Twitter. Schwartz, also known as @JoelKatz on Twitter, explained how he was recruited as Ripple's CTO by co-founder and former CEO, Chris Larsen, due to his loyalty. Schwartz pledged his loyalty to Larsen as long as he believed Larsen was the right person to lead the company. However, he clarified that his loyalty was primarily to Ripple, the company that employed him, rather than to Larsen personally.
Schwartz currently holds a significant amount of Ripple stock, which he suggested is the reason he doesn't need to work for Ripple. He stated that he would leave his high-ranking position at Ripple 'as soon as it's not fun' anymore. Regarding loyalty from others, Schwartz said he doesn't require it unless they believe he deserves it. Despite being a major shareholder in Ripple, Schwartz recently expressed regret over choosing stock over XRP, the company's cryptocurrency.
Schwartz owns 2% of Ripple's stock but admitted that opting for stock over XRP was a 'big mistake'. Ripple's founders, Arthur Britto, Jed McCaleb, and Chris Larsen, chose XRP and received 20 billion XRP between them. In 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Ripple, Larsen, and CEO Brad Garlinghouse for selling XRP to institutional investors as unregistered securities. The case against Larsen and Garlinghouse was later dropped, but the case against Ripple continues.