Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Square is losing its first top exec since its IPO

The company’s first lawyer, Dana Wagner, is departing after five years.

Departing Square General Counsel Dana Wagner
Departing Square General Counsel Dana Wagner
Departing Square General Counsel Dana Wagner
Jason Del Rey
Jason Del Rey has been a business journalist for 15 years and has covered Amazon, Walmart, and the e-commerce industry for the last decade. He was a senior correspondent at Vox.

Dana Wagner, general counsel of Square, is leaving the Jack Dorsey-led payments company by the end of September, according to a regulatory filing.

Wagner has been with Square for five-plus years and shepherded the startup through the IPO process last year. He doesn’t have another job lined up and is taking time off, according to a spokesman.

“Dana was our first lawyer, and over the past five years he helped shape us into a global public technology company and built one of the very best legal and regulatory teams in the industry,” the company said in a statement. “We are grateful to Dana for his dedication to Square and adept counsel during so many pivotal moments, and we wish him the best.”

Square said that the company’s current associate general counsels, Sydney Schaub and Sivan Whiteley, will become acting co-general counsels upon Wagner’s departure.

Wagner is the first top executive to depart Square since its IPO last November. Square’s stock closed out trading today at $11.37 a share — basically in line with the price at which it opened on its first day of trading.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh