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On Tuesday, Klein announced that he is stepping down as CEO of Nitrogen — formerly Riskalyze — and passing the reins of the Auburn, California-based wealthtech firm to Dan Zitting as of Dec. 4.
According to a Nitrogen statement, the move is a doubling down on the company's transformation from a firm focused on risk to one all about growth. Zitting, formerly the CEO of SaaS governance, risk and compliance software developer Galvanize, brings decades of experience to the role.
But don't expect Klein to just up and disappear. In addition to being the firm's largest individual shareholder, Nitrogen says the outgoing CEO will transition out of operational leadership before year end, continuing to serve on the Nitrogen board of directors as a "champion of Fearless Investing at the 2024 Fearless Investing Summit and as a strategic advisor to Nitrogen's leadership."
"I am enormously grateful — to my teammates, our partners … our outstanding board and most importantly, the advisors and firms we love to serve — for my last 12 years as CEO," Klein said in a statement. "After a decade plus of pouring my heart and soul into this company at nearly every waking moment, it's time for me to take some time, pour my energy into my family and help contribute to Nitrogen's vision and strategy from a different role.
"It has been the honor of my career to lead this firm, and Dan is going to be an amazing new leader for this organization, driving Nitrogen's next decade of success."
Zitting began his career as a certified public accountant and is a three-time company founder. Among the companies he founded is Workpapers.com, which was acquired by Galvanize.
Over the course of his career with Galvanize, he grew the company to more than 500 employees, 50 worldwide channel partners and $100 million in annual recurring revenue. He ended his career with Galvanize as CEO after a $1 billion acquisition by Diligent.
There, he went on to become chief product and strategy officer, integrating the technology, people and customer bases of four additional acquired companies.
"It is an honor to join a team that has truly defined how the wealth management industry engages with clients on their risk tolerance and financial behavior," Zitting said in a statement. "Over the course of my career, I have measured my own success by the value my teams have provided to customers. The opportunity to serve advisors who deliver professional advice to Americans preparing for significant milestones in their lives is incredibly special to me.
"Standing amidst the greatest generational wealth transfer in history, there has never been a more important moment for our fearless investing vision. I am excited to accelerate the expansion of our platform, adding new ways for advisors to differentiate their services, engage the next generation, drive up client satisfaction and to grow their own firms."
On the Nitrogen website,
"After a lot of reflection, I came to the decision that it was time for a scaler — somebody who had seen the movie before, and grew a company to [a] billion-dollar scale and beyond." Klein wrote.
7/So that's the news today. I'm so excited to introduce Dan to our customers, partners, and our industry. You can read more about that here! https://t.co/O6zCkPZuwb pic.twitter.com/ocfqxcPAeL
— Aaron Klein (@AaronKlein) November 14, 2023
He added that after more than 12 years as CEO, stepping off the "bullet train" that was his former schedule won't be easy. But industry watchers shouldn't brace for a new company or a new gig announcement from him anytime soon.
"When one has been running a marathon for twelve and a half years, the last question when you reach the finish line is 'where is the next marathon?'" he wrote. "That time will come, but for now, with three kids in high school and a wife entering a master's program, I'm going to take some time and pour into them. They certainly deserve it after pouring into me for so long."
In an interview with Financial Planning conducted just hours after the news broke, Klein and Zitting shared their excitement about what's next. Zitting said the announcement comes with a sense of relief as he has had to keep it under his hat since August.
Klein, meanwhile, said this is a move he has been thinking about a lot this year. With the company repositioning its product lineup, refreshing its leadership team and rebranding as Nitrogen, the time was right.
He added that it was also important to share it with the world at the right time.
"We have the Fearless Summit in October. And I was bound and determined not to let Fearless turn into something like my retirement party or something like that," Klein told Financial Planning. "It's about our customers and who we serve."
Pre-transition, Zitting said his main focus will be getting to know Nitrogen's internal teams a bit better, as well as gaining some perspective on key industry events and customers.
"I'm also very deep in learning the ins and outs of the product at the moment and the different use cases of our customers. So hopefully, when I show up in December, I will already have some understanding and something to say as I get the opportunity to begin meeting all of our advisors," Zitting said.
Klein said since Zitting was selected as the new CEO in August, the two men have had a lot of time to talk and drill down the details of what makes Nitrogen tick. He added that Zitting, with his background as a CPA, is coming into the role with the right perspective.
"He just has this innate understanding of what financial advisors are facing and dealing with and thinking about every day. And his track record of building software tools to drive growth, to manage risk and manage compliance just felt like the perfect fit," Klein said. "So I'm super excited about this."
And while change can be scary, it is often necessary. Both men assured advisors who already rode the wave from Riskalyze to Nitrogen that this next evolution will keep their needs front and center.
"I mean, growth and change go hand in hand. And if software is not growing and improving and becoming better, it stagnates and it becomes useless to the people who use it," Klein said. "Growth and change in organizations and in software are absolutely part and parcel to how things move forward, how innovation happens and ultimately how it stays a very vibrant platform that drives the success of financial advisors."
"What doesn't change is the mission," Zitting added. "It's the mission that Aaron laid out that was very compelling to me. I am fully here for the purposes of empowering the world to invest fearlessly. I think my role is just trying to accelerate what Aaron has already built, and doing it at the size and scale and complexity of what Nitrogen is now, as well as what the industry is becoming for the advisor."
As far as how Klein will be spending all of his new free time, watch out for the outgoing CEO on the slopes.
"I think I'm going to get in more ski days this winter than I ever have any winter before," he said. "We've got some really nice mountains in Idaho that I have not carved up yet. So I'm looking forward to doing some of that. I'll be in Sun Valley in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait."
And, seriously, you should not worry about him backsliding and jumping into a CEO seat anywhere else.
"My wife has threatened to commit murder if I say yes to anything new before, say, six months from now," Klein said while sharing a laugh with Zitting. "And she's a very, very patient and kind person. So that would be a first for her."
In May, Riskalyze was reborn as Nitrogen to represent its evolution. At the time,
"We're so grateful to Aaron for the amazing culture of innovation he has built, and for his role in cultivating an iconic firm in the wealth tech space," said Laurie Schultz, board chair at Nitrogen. "Great businesses set themselves up for success beyond their first CEO, and I'm confident that Dan is well equipped to build on the foundation we've established during our firm's first decade."
Klein also becomes the latest Riskalyze co-founder to make a big change in 2023. In April,
