The digital payments company Block moved several long-time executives into more senior leadership roles and will look to hire someone for a new chief risk officer role.

Brian Grassadonia is Block’s new eco-system lead, ensuring that various sectors of the company work together seamlessly, and Owen Jennings now oversees business functions. Block COO and CFO Amrita Ahuja announced the changes at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology conference in San Francisco last week.

Thomas Templeton will head up hardware for Block, and Brian Boates is now in charge of science functions, Ahuja said.

Block operates several businesses, including the point-of-sale programs Square — which is popular with restaurants — the peer-to-peer money transfer program Cash App, and the bitcoin mining program Proto.

Ahuja did not say when Templeton, Jennings, Grassadonia and Boates started their new roles. Boates’ LinkedIn profile says he moved into his new position in September, and Jennings’ LinkedIn profile says he began his role in August. Templeton and Grassadonia do not appear to have updated their profiles to reflect their news responsibilities.

The moves come amid reports that Block is under federal investigation over Cash App. NBC News reported in February that the Justice Department is investigating whether the app is used to launder money and process bitcoin transactions for terrorists. The probe is reportedly based on documents provided by two whistleblowers, the network reported.

Block CEO Jack Dorsey dismissed any notion of an investigation in an earnings call in May, saying he did not think any new investigations had been opened, and said Block has "robust" controls for its bitcoin offering.

The person who takes the job of chief risk officer will be responsible for "trust and safety" and will report directly to Dorsey, said Ahuja, who spoke at the conference on Sept. 9.

The new role is unrelated to any government probe, and is instead part of the company’s ongoing efforts to comply with federal regulators, a Block spokesperson said in an email.

"This person would have not only technology experience, but deep regulatory and partnership experience," Ahuja said. She did not say if the company was looking internally or externally for a candidate for the role.

Grassadonia was previously the Cash App CEO and the first product lead for Square, Ahuja said. “[Grassadonia] is going to be responsible for connecting the dots across Square, Cash App, and Proto and our emerging initiatives," she said.

Jennings was previously the COO of Cash App, she said. "[Jennings} is going to be looking across our products, our marketing and customer success functions," Ahuja said. "He's really placed as that operational tactician to keep the trains running on time to make sure we are putting the right level of investment focus on our key products."

Templeton helped launch Proto, she added.

Boates’ previous role was senior vice president of machine learning and data science for Cash App, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Nothing fundamental about Block is changing, she stressed.

This doesn't change “how we operate and how we make decisions," Ahuja said. The new reporting structure provides the company with “the ability to prioritize Block product offerings “cohesively as we bring alignment and collaboration across the different product areas," she explained.

By Patrick Cooley on Sep 17, 2024
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