Key takeaways
- David Schwartz, longtime chief technology officer at Ripple, has moved to the role of CTO emeritus.
- Schwartz announced his decision to step away from his day-to-day responsibilities in October 2025 to focus on his family and hobbies.
Ripple veteran David Schwartz officially stepped down as CEO of the company this week. The former technology executive also updated his title to “CTO Emeritus” on X and LinkedIn.
Schwartz led the technical evolution of Ripple’s cross-border payment systems and managed its global engineering organization. The co-architect of XRP Ledger, who has been a key executive for over a decade, will join the board as his official next step.
“The time has come for me to step aside from my day-to-day duties as Ripple CTO at the end of this year,” Schwartz said in a statement in October 2025, when he revealed his retirement plans. “I’m really looking forward to spending more time with the kids and grandkids and getting back to the hobbies I’ve been saving.”
In his October announcement, Schwartz also expressed gratitude to Ripple’s leadership, including CEO Brad Garlinghouse and President Monica Long, calling them “the very soul of Ripple.”
“Chris asked me to join the Ripple Board of Directors to continue supporting the company’s mission and long-term vision… and I accept! he said.
With Schwartz’s departure from day-to-day operations, Dennis Jarosch, Ripple’s senior vice president of engineering, will take the helm in leading the company’s technology organization.
Schwartz affirmed his continued commitment to the XRP community as he begins his next chapter.
“Be warned, I will not distance myself from the XRP community. You have not seen the last of me,” he said.
