Sequoia looks to oust Michael Moritz from Klarna in boardroom dispute

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Sequoia Capital is seeking to oust its former leader Michael Moritz as chair of the fintech Klarna, an extraordinary move that reflects the venture capital group’s mounting discontent over the governance of what was once Europe’s most valuable start-up.

The boardroom dispute adds to pressure on Klarna chief executive and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski as the Swedish “buy now, pay later” pioneer prepares for a public listing, people with knowledge of the situation told the Financial Times.

Moritz, who led Sequoia’s investments into Google, PayPal, YouTube and Klarna over a near-40 year career, is a crucial boardroom ally of Siemiatkowski, according to three people with knowledge of their relationship. One person with knowledge of the move said removing Moritz could be viewed as “step one to removing Sebastian”.

When Moritz left Sequoia last year, the firm’s managing partner Roelof Botha told investors that he would “smoothly transition” off boards at Sequoia companies “over time”.

But Moritz retained an independent role on Klarna’s board even as a new Sequoia partner, Matthew Miller, was appointed. The formal procedure to oust Moritz was initiated by Miller, who sent a letter to other investors seeking an extraordinary shareholder meeting to remove his former colleague from the Klarna board.

Miller was representing Sequoia and had the full backing of Botha and the firm’s partnership, according to people familiar with the matter. They added that other shareholders were sympathetic to Sequoia’s effort.

Asked to comment on the effort to remove Moritz, Sequoia said: “As we engaged with the company with a new board member, we realised there were a series of governance changes that needed to be made to set the company up for its future.”

“We’re excited to back Sebastian and Klarna’s journey ahead. This…