Edmond Walters, the founder and CEO of eMoney, has resigned, effective immediately. No reasons were given, but sources from Fidelity and eMoney confirmed that the decision was made by Walters. Walters has led eMoney since the founding of the firm in 2000.

A charismatic fixture in the industry for many years, Walters has often been characterized as colorful, and controversial, but never boring. At the T3 Conference in February 2015, he promised that eMoney would integrate with 17 partners by the end of the third quarter. That was apparently the first his development staff heard of the deadline. According to eMoney insiders, that was a vintage Walters' performance. His speeches were often unrehearsed, but they never came across as such.

As CEO of eMoney, Walters was widely acknowledged as the firm’s visionary, chief cheerleader and most effective salesperson. He had a reputation for treating employees very well, and a number of employees spoke of him in glowing terms. 

Fidelity Investments, which purchased eMoney in February 2015, has announced that Michael Durbin will assume the role of Interim CEO of eMoney.  Durbin formerly served as president of Fidelity’s RIA custody unit. Prior to his appointment as eMoney CEO, Durbin served as president of Fidelity Wealth Technologies, the Fidelity unit that eMoney reported to. He will continue to serve in that role.

It was a sad day for me when I accepted Mr. Walter’s resignation,” said Durbin.

“We remain committed to eMoney Advisor’s mission, which is to revolutionize the way trusted advisors serve the needs of their clients through highly innovative, intuitive and collaborative technology,” he added. “That will mean continuing to embrace eMoney’s independent spirit, fierce entrepreneurialism, and unrelenting focus on clients. We recognize that while eMoney is a critical component of Fidelity Clearing & Custody’s next generation technology platform strategy, much of the business’ growth will continue through firms not affiliated with Fidelity.”

“Edmond Walters developed a culture of innovation at eMoney that will drive future growth. I’m impressed by the strength and capability of the team,” says Durbin. “eMoney is experiencing a phenomenal period of growth. The platform is built for what’s next,” he says. The firm’s primary focus will continue to be supporting existing eMoney clients and pursuing new ones.