Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been named the 2026 Business Leader of the Year by the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California, receiving the honor at a dinner in San Francisco’s Julia Morgan Ballroom. The award — handed out annually by the association since 1969 — places Garlinghouse among previous recipients such as Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, former Cisco chief John Chambers, and Intel co‑founder Gordon Moore.
Harvard Business School professor David B. Yoffie singled out Garlinghouse’s stewardship of Ripple, praising his “extraordinary ability to scale a complex platform while maintaining a steadfast commitment to his core vision.” The commendation comes as Garlinghouse marks 11 years with the company, a span in which he has guided Ripple through growth, major strategic shifts, and high‑profile regulatory headwinds.
Garlinghouse joined Ripple as chief operating officer in April 2015, after executive stints at AOL and Yahoo, and became CEO in 2016 after being recruited by co‑founder Chris Larsen. He rose to become one of the industry’s most visible executives during Ripple’s protracted legal dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and has since been an outspoken advocate for clearer crypto regulation in the United States.
Under Garlinghouse’s leadership, Ripple has continued an aggressive expansion drive. In the past year the company completed two blockbuster acquisitions — GTreasury for $1 billion and Hidden Road for $1.25 billion — rebranding the latter as Ripple Prime, a clearing platform targeted at institutional finance. Ripple has also secured key international licenses, notably an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license in the United Kingdom, and has benefited from renewed interest in XRP products following the launch of XRP spot ETFs last year.
The Harvard award underscores Garlinghouse’s rising profile as Ripple broadens its footprint across payments, custody, stablecoins and institutional markets. For the crypto industry, the recognition highlights the growing intersection between traditional business leadership accolades and the companies shaping digital finance.
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