The news
Circle CFO Jeremy Fox-Geen will step down by December 31, 2026, Circle Internet Group (CRCL) announced on September 25. The USDC stablecoin issuer has started a search for his successor, and co-founder P. Sean Neville resigned from its board the same day.
Fox-Geen told the company on September 25 that he intends to leave, according to a Form 8-K that Circle filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that day. He will stay on as chief financial officer through the end of December unless a successor is appointed sooner, and will remain employed through December 31 to assist the transition. The filing says his departure did not result from any disagreement with the company. Circle said it is working with a leading executive search firm and did not name a replacement.
Fox-Geen has run Circle's finance function since May 2021, according to the company's release, which credits him with building its finance organization and overseeing its initial public offering (IPO). The release describes that offering as $1.2 billion, while Banking Dive reported that Circle raised $1.05 billion at a valuation of roughly $8 billion when it went public in June 2025. The gap reflects the underwriters' option: Circle's June 2025 pricing release set the base deal at 34 million shares at $31, about $1.05 billion, and its second-quarter 2025 report says the option for 5.1 million more shares was exercised in full, lifting the total to about $1.2 billion. Co-founder and Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire said Fox-Geen "has played a key role in building Circle into the company it is today."
The 8-K lays out the terms of his exit. Fox-Geen keeps his $500,000 annualized base salary through the transition and remains eligible for a 2026 incentive award with a target of 110% of base salary, paid on actual performance. After he leaves, he is due $1,050,000 in equal monthly installments over 12 months, two extra months of restricted stock unit vesting and a 12-month extension of the window to exercise his non-qualified stock options.
Those post-departure benefits depend on Fox-Geen signing a release and complying with restrictive covenants, including a 12-month non-compete and a 24-month commitment not to solicit or hire Circle employees, according to the filing.
Neville resigned from the board effective immediately for personal reasons. The filing says his exit was part of an orderly board refreshment and was not due to any disagreement with the company. The board shrinks from eight directors to seven. Banking Dive reported that analysts at TD Cowen do not expect internal disruption from the two departures.
The numbers
- CFO's latest departure date
- December 31, 2026
- Post-departure cash payment
- $1,050,000 over 12 months
- Base salary during transition
- $500,000 annualized
- 2026 incentive target
- 110% of base salary
- USDC in circulation, end of Q2 2026
- $73.3 billion
- Board size after Neville's exit
- 7 directors (from 8)
Why CEOs should care
For corporate treasurers and fintech partners that hold or settle in USDC, this is a scheduled handover rather than an abrupt exit: Fox-Geen remains CFO until year-end or until a successor is named, stays employed through December 31, and Circle has hired a search firm. Still, the finance chief sits at the center of how an issuer reports on its business. Treasury teams with meaningful USDC balances should ask their Circle contacts who will own finance relationships during the handover and whether any reporting or disclosure schedules are expected to change.
CFOs and compensation committees can use the 8-K as a reference for an orderly executive exit. Circle paired continued salary and a performance-based bonus with post-departure cash that depends on a signed release, a one-year non-compete and a two-year no-hire commitment. Boards reviewing their own succession plans should check whether their agreements tie severance to similar protections and to a defined handover window.
Investors and directors watching Circle should note that two senior figures left on the same day. The 8-K says neither departure resulted from a disagreement with the company and calls Neville's exit part of an orderly board refreshment; TD Cowen, as reported by Banking Dive, sees no internal disruption. The questions to track are who fills the CFO seat, whether that person has experience running finance at a regulated bank, and whether Circle needs an interim arrangement if no one is hired by December 31.
The bigger picture
The next CFO inherits a larger and more regulated business than the one Fox-Geen joined. In its second-quarter 2026 results, released August 5, Circle reported $73.3 billion of USDC in circulation at quarter end, up 19% from a year earlier, and $701 million in total revenue and reserve income, up 7%. Net income from continuing operations was $48 million, an increase of $530 million that the company said was driven by IPO-related stock-based compensation in the prior-year quarter.
Circle also said in that release that it had received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank, Circle National Trust, which it said enables future capabilities including management of the USDC reserve. Separately, Banking Dive noted that Binance has pledged a $100 million equity investment in Circle alongside a five-year commercial agreement.
What’s next
Fox-Geen is scheduled to remain CFO through December 31, 2026, unless Circle names a successor earlier. Watch for a filing announcing the new finance chief, any interim arrangement if the search runs past year-end, and management commentary on the transition when Circle next reports quarterly results.
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