Acknowledging the Value of Lending Club, Even as It Stumbles
By
Harry Campbell
Lending Club’s implosion is a tale of two Silicon Valleys. The first story is about yet another Internet unicorn — valued at more than $8 billion at its initial public offering in 2014 — grasping for growth and cutting corners. But the second is about the good that an online lender can do, by disrupting technology and opening new avenues of credit for consumers. As the herd lashes the now-fallen Lending Club, let us not forget this second story.
Lending Club, which connects small borrowers with individual and institutional investors, hit a wall last week when it disclosed that it had fired its founder and chief executive, Renaud Laplanche. Mr. Laplanche’s primary fault was to have failed to properly address $22 million in loans that were sold under false credentials to the investment bank Jefferies. To me, there’s a word for this kind of conduct: fraud…
Acknowledging the Value of Lending Club, Even as It Stumbles
