Coinbase Layoffs Architect Exits Weeks After Cutting 700 Jobs

Coinbase cut 700 jobs in May, and Lawrence Brock’s team ran those layoffs. Eleven weeks later, the Chief People Officer reportedly quit.

Brock leaves on August 17. He will advise Coinbase until November 30. Dominique Baillet is expected to take his job.

From Coinbase Layoffs to His Own Exit

Coinbase filed the plan with regulators on May 5. It cut about 700 roles, or 14% of staff. That took headcount from roughly 5,000 down to 4,300.

The cuts cost $50 million to $60 million. Almost all of that was cash for severance. Coinbase gave two reasons. It wanted to spend less, and to rebuild “for the AI era.”

Most of the bill lands in the second-quarter accounts. Coinbase reports those numbers on July 30. Brock walks out 18 days later.

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He Had Done This Before

May was not his first round of cuts. In June 2022, Brock froze hiring and pulled offers from people who had not yet started.

“We will also rescind a number of outstanding offers for people who have not started yet. This is not a decision we make lightly, but is necessary to ensure we are only growing in the highest-priority areas,” he wrote that in a company post 12 days before Coinbase cut 18% of staff.

Brock runs hiring, pay, and workplace policy. Both rounds of cuts went through his team.

His own deal is softer. It pays $182,500 for three months of advice. The filing calls that three months of his salary, which works out to $730,000 a year.

One block of his stock keeps vesting on November 20. The rest is cancelled. The filing gives no reason for his exit and does not link it to the layoffs.

Fourth Senior Exit Since July 8

Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal stepped down to join a startup this month. Molly Abraham took his place as general counsel.

Jesse Pollak then admitted his on-chain social bet had failed. He handed the Base app back to Coinbase. Greg Tusar, co-head of Coinbase Institutional, is moving to a policy job, The Information reported.

However, none of these seats went to an outside hire. Coinbase is promoting its own people while it builds what it calls the everything exchange. That means stocks, derivatives, and regulated prediction markets next to crypto.

Chief Executive Brian Armstrong pitched the May reorganization as fitting Coinbase for the AI era. Brock built the machinery, then left before anyone could judge it. July 30 gives the first real answer.

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