Robinhood cuts 10% of staff as CEO says business is strong

Robinhood is reducing about 10% of its full-time workforce, affecting roughly 290 employees, the company announced on Tuesday. The change was posted on X and described in an internal memo. Robinhood currently employs about 2,900 full-time staff.

In the memo, CEO Vlad Tenev wrote that the company cannot “default to operating as a heavily-layered organization” if it wants to scale its mission and must “continuously raise” its performance bar. He framed the reductions as taken from “a position of business strength” and wrote the business “has never been stronger.”

The company said the reductions will include eliminating a small number of open roles as well as layoffs of existing employees as it flattens management layers. Robinhood also stated it will continue to hire selectively, invest in top-tier talent and use “frontier technologies” to boost performance even as headcount declines.

Robinhood estimated total restructuring-related charges of about $28 million, which it expects to recognize in the second quarter of 2026. The firm said roughly $20 million will cover employee severance and benefits and about $8 million will be for share-based compensation. The reduction in force was disclosed in a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tenev pointed to June month-to-date average daily trading volumes that reached record levels across equities, options and prediction markets. At the same time, Robinhood reported first-quarter revenue and earnings below analyst forecasts, with crypto trading volumes down about 50% year over year.

The company did not provide a detailed breakdown of which teams or locations were affected. Robinhood said the plan is intended to sharpen focus and improve execution as it pursues growth across its trading and financial services businesses.