Russell is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Paidy, Japan's leading BNPL ("Buy Now, Pay Later") service. After becoming a Unicorn in 2020, Paidy was acquired by PayPal in September 2021 for US$2.7 billion, marking the highest ever value for a Japanese venture M&A transaction. Russell is also the Founder of Tokyo-based AltX Research, a web3 company focused on blockchain infrastructure in Japan. Prior to founding Paidy, Russell worked at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong and Japan and he holds an MS in Financial Mathematics from Stanford University.