SAN MATEO, California — February 10, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST) announced that Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Paul Gu will become Upstart’s Chief Executive Officer on May 1, 2026.
At that time, Co-founder Dave Girouard will remain Executive Chairman of Upstart’s Board of Directors and serve as a special advisor to the company’s CEO and leadership team.
Sanjay Datta has been named Upstart’s President and Chief Capital Officer, effective immediately. Andrea Blankmeyer will join Upstart as CFO in March. Grant Schneider returns to Upstart today as the company’s CTO.
Girouard said that he and Gu have been building Upstart side by side for almost 14 years and expects they’ll continue to do so for another 14. Girouard added that this generational transition is a rare opportunity to have a founder-led company for decades to come and that he will continue to help shape the company’s strategic direction and key initiatives beyond his role as Upstart’s executive chairman.
Gu said that credit is one of the cornerstone industries of civilization and that changing it is hard, but can be unimaginably impactful. Gu added that he and Dave spent the past 14 years building the foundations of a company that can do that and that he’s excited to now have the opportunity to show the world what’s possible in the years to come.
Kerry Cooper, Upstart’s Lead Independent Director, said that Gu’s appointment reflects years of careful succession planning. Cooper added that Upstart has been very fortunate to have a super diverse set of founders who established a culture of innovation and excellence and that this generational transition is one of the obvious wins from their successful partnership and that they’re confident Paul is prepared to lead Upstart through the coming years of growth and AI leadership.
Datta joined Upstart more than nine years ago as Upstart’s Chief Financial Officer, where he helped transition Upstart from a pre-profit startup to a rapidly growing and profitable publicly traded financial technology company, including managing its December 2020 IPO on the NASDAQ.
Blankmeyer joins Upstart from Cityblock Health where she has served as CFO since 2020.
Schneider was one of Upstart’s original machine learning engineers, joining the company in 2014 and leading its machine learning efforts through much of its history.
Gu is one of Upstart’s co-founders and has served in various roles since April 2012, including most recently as our CTO. He studied economics and computer science at Yale University before joining the Thiel Fellowship.
Blankmeyer joins Upstart from Cityblock Health, a company focused on improving healthcare access, where she has served as CFO since 2020. Prior to Cityblock, she was CFO of Transfix, an AI-enabled freight solutions provider. She was also Vice President of Finance at SoFi, where she led FP&A, investor relations, treasury and financial operations, and warehouse operations. Blankmeyer graduated from Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and East Asian Studies and also studied at Harvard Business School.
Upstart will host a live question and answer session with investors and analysts about this leadership evolution as well as Upstart’s Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 financial results at 1:30 PM PT on February 10, 2026.
Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST) is the leading AI lending marketplace, connecting millions of consumers to more than 100 banks and credit unions that leverage Upstart’s AI models and cloud applications to deliver superior credit products. With Upstart AI, lenders can approve more borrowers at lower rates while delivering the exceptional digital-first experience customers demand. More than 90% of loans are fully automated, with no human intervention by Upstart. Founded in 2012, Upstart’s platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small-dollar “relief” loans. Upstart is based in San Mateo, California.
Source: Upstart
