Klarna valued at $15B ahead of trading debut
Swedish buy now, pay later company Klarna is making its IPO debut on Sept. 10, 2025.
Shares of buy now, pay later company Klarna rose more than 30% on Wednesday after the company raised $1.37 billion in its long-awaited initial public offering.
Klarna’s stock, trading under the ticker KLAR, opened at $52 per share after pricing at a higher-than-expected $40, which would have valued the company around $15 billion.
The Swedish firm initially guided a price range of $35 to $37 per share when it launched its roadshow earlier this month.
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CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told FOX Business that years ago he and Chairman Michael Moritz envisioned an IPO modeled after Google’s. They wanted to take the company public “when it was a global phenomenon, it was profitable, but it had a lot of growth ahead of itself.” To be successful globally, he noted, meant that the company had to be profitable in the U.S., a feat achieved just last year, according to Siemiatkowski.
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski stands in front of the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 9, 2025, as Klarna prepares for its IPO. (Klarna)
Founded in 2005, Siemiatkowski is credited with growing the startup into a global AI-powered payments and shopping platform that has partnerships with 790,000 retailers, including Walmart Canada, it’s biggest omni-retail partnership. To date, it has more than 111 million active users.
Wednesday marks a strategic milestone for the company, as its chief executive said that he is not selling his shares during the IPO, commonly seen in the industry as an exit move, but instead is invested for the long haul, signaling confidence in the company’s long-term value. Siemiatkowski says Klarna’s goal is to compete directly with retail banks, such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citibank.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPM | JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 305.56 | +5.02 | +1.67% |
| BAC | BANK OF AMERICA CORP. | 50.75 | +0.62 | +1.24% |
| WFC | WELLS FARGO & CO. | 81.25 | +0.95 | +1.18% |
| C | CITIGROUP INC. | 98.82 | +1.65 | +1.70% |
“I think that there is this demand and people want something else from their bank. Most people are not that super excited about what banks have been doing for them in the last few decades,” he said. “There’s been competitive banks, but there hasn’t been banks that are willing to do things differently, in my opinion.”
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A Klarna sign on the front of the New York Stock Exchange ahead of its public debut. (Klarna)
He’s confident that the company can be a strong competitor. Despite only achieving profitability in the U.S. last year, Siemiatkowski said he is confident they can maintain that momentum as Americans become increasingly frustrated with traditional credit cards.
“The key is that we see that there are a lot of Americans out…
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