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Klarna, a provider of buy now, pay later online payments, started its journey on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The company’s initial public offering was set at a price of $40, leading to a valuation of approximately $15 billion, but the stock opened at $52 per share on its first day of trading.
“For me, it symbolizes a milestone,” stated Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna’s co-founder and CEO, during an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. “It’s akin to a wedding. There’s extensive preparation and planning, capped by a grand celebration. However, much like marriage, the journey continues beyond that day.”
In the days leading up to the IPO, Klarna, founded in 2005, announced to its workforce that it would join companies like Microsoft and Target in instituting a return-to-office policy. For Klarna, this means employees are expected to be in the office three days a week starting September 29.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the CEO and co-founder of Klarna Holding AB, during the company’s IPO ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg | Getty Images
As per information from a Slack post viewed by Business Insider, Klarna communicated this update on an internal message board, yet commenting was disabled. However, employees were able to use emoji reactions.
The report suggests around 3,000 Klarna employees accessed the post, and it elicited a variety of responses with emojis such as sad faces (341), “no” emotion (167), combined sweat-faced and sad (149), sad cat (131), facepalm (90), crying (86), clown face (73), and a “this sucks” sentiment (41) emoji.
There were also some custom creations: the “Homer Simpson backing into a bush” meme emoji (62), a “Hide the Pain Harold” meme emoji (43), and a child going down a slide saying “bye” (17).
Still, not everyone hated the news; there were 19 thumbs-up emojis and 14 rocket ship emojis, Business Insider notes.
In June, Klarna announced that it was launching a debit card called the “Klarna Card.” Siemiatkowski told CNBC that the company has signed up 700,000 card customers in the U.S. so far, with a waiting list of five million people.
Buy now, pay later online payment provider Klarna began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Its IPO was priced at $40, which valued Klarna at about $15 billion, but opened at $52 per share in its debut.
“To me, it really just is a milestone,” Klarna’s co-founder and CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, told CNBC on Wednesday. “It’s a little bit like a wedding. You prepare so much, and you plan for it, and it’s a big party. But in the end, marriage goes on.”
Meanwhile, just a few days before the IPO, Klarna, which was founded in 2005, told employees that it is joining Microsoft, Target, and other companies in mandating a return-to-office schedule (RTO) — in Klarna’s case, three days a week in the office starting September 29.
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