Key Information at a Glance

  • Ad-tech company The Trade Desk announced on Monday that, according to securities filings, its Chief Financial Officer Alexander Kayyal's "employment relationship has been terminated," effective January 24, but the company expects Kayyal to remain on the board until the 2026 annual shareholder meeting.
  • The Ventura, California-based company appointed 55-year-old Tahnil Davis as interim Chief Financial Officer. Davis, who has been with the company for 11 years and currently serves as Chief Accounting Officer, had her interim appointment also take effect on Monday. The company is searching for a permanent successor to Kayyal.
  • The company's stock closed at $36.55 on Tuesday, down about 12% from Friday's closing price. The personnel change comes only about five months after Kayyal was appointed as the finance chief, with his predecessor Laura Schenkein having held the role since June 2023.

In-Depth Analysis

The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reason for the termination.

Before joining The Trade Desk, Kayyal, 41, had served as a company director since February 2025 and was a general partner at global venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. According to filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in August, he holds an MBA from Harvard University and previously held multiple executive roles at customer relationship management giant Salesforce from June 2021 to February 2023.

Under his employment agreement, Kayyal's base annual salary during his tenure as CFO was $600,000, with a signing bonus of $600,000 and an additional $400,000 in relocation assistance.

In Monday's announcement, the company highlighted Davis's deep roots at the company, noting she played a key role in building its financial and operational infrastructure.

"Tahnil is an exceptionally strong operator and leader with deep knowledge of our business," said Jeff Green, CEO and co-founder of The Trade Desk. "She combines financial rigor, strategic insight, and hands-on execution, and has been instrumental in helping us build a finance organization that can support our next phase of growth."

Under the employment agreement reflecting the interim appointment, Davis's base annual salary is $567,000, with a target annual bonus prorated: $267,500 for the period from January 1 to January 22, and $567,000 for the period from January 23 to December 31. Additionally, for each calendar quarter she serves as interim CFO, and for the three months following the determination of a permanent successor, she will also receive a prorated quarterly retention bonus of $1,875,000 (the original figure as stated, possibly a typo, but retained as is).

In addition to the leadership change, the company reaffirmed its fourth-quarter 2025 guidance on Monday. The company also noted that it did not provide GAAP net income guidance due to the variability and complexity of expenses related to stock-based compensation, tax-related items, and other non-recurring items, which are unrelated to operating performance, as such data is not available without "unreasonable effort."

"The company expects that the variability of the aforementioned expenses could have a material, and potentially unpredictable, impact on our future U.S. GAAP financial results," The Trade Desk said in the announcement.

In the third quarter ended September 30, the company's revenue grew 18% year-over-year to $739 million, and GAAP net income increased 16% to $116 million.