Inside the Board Fight Over Michael Moritz at Klarna

People close to Klarna founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski say he keeps a very tight inner circle. One of the people he trusts the most is Michael Moritz.

So when big Klarna investor Sequoia Capital sought to oust Moritz—Klarna’s chair, who was a longtime leader of the venture capital firm before leaving last year—Siemiatkowski went into defense mode. Moritz had clashed with Matthew Miller, a 12-year Sequoia veteran who had just joined Klarna’s board in January. They disagreed over efforts to change the company’s shareholder agreements in Sweden before a potential initial public offering next year, according to two people familiar with the matter.