Tether Expands VC Portfolio and Plans 150 New Hires

Tether has grown its workforce to 300 employees and intends to add another 150 staff members, primarily engineers, within the next year and a half. The hiring spree is global, with LinkedIn job listings showing openings for AI filmmakers in Italy, venture investment associates in the United Arab Emirates, and regulatory affairs specialists in Ghana and Brazil. This expansion coincides with a strategic relocation of its headquarters to El Salvador in 2025, where it holds a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) license and is constructing a new office tower. A new London-based team, led by Chief Financial Officer Simon McWilliams, now oversees finance and operations for the growing enterprise.

Tether’s diversification is centered around CEO Paolo Ardoino’s vision of a global “freedom tech stack” spanning finance, communications, and AI. The company’s investment portfolio, now at 140 holdings, is eclectic, with stakes in South American agriculture, Italian football club Juventus, and a significant $775 million investment in Rumble, the YouTube alternative that hosts Truth Social. At recent conferences, the company has showcased products reflecting this new direction, including a Bitcoin mining operating system (MOS), an AI agent platform (QVAC), and wallets designed for AI agents to accept Tether (WDK).

The strategic shift is fueled by the substantial profits generated from the reserves backing the USDT stablecoin. Instead of distributing these returns to token holders, Tether is reinvesting them to build a diversified technology conglomerate. The stated goal is to create a suite of peer-to-peer and decentralized tools that reduce reliance on traditional technology and financial systems, aligning with the pro-crypto stance of partners like El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.

Tether’s expansion has been accompanied by persistent questions regarding its financial health and political influence. The company maintains close ties with Howard Lutnick, whose bank, Cantor Fitzgerald, serves as a custodian for Tether’s U.S. Treasury holdings. The company has also reportedly hired former Trump administration members to aid its U.S. expansion. This has drawn concern from regulators, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, who raised issues about Tether’s cooperation with law enforcement. While Tether provides quarterly attestations from accounting firm BDO Italia, it has never undergone a full, independent audit. This lack of a complete audit was a central issue in its 2021 settlement with New York authorities, where it paid an $18.5 million penalty over misrepresenting its reserves.

Several key aspects of Tether’s operations remain unclear. A complete, detailed list of its 140 investments has not been publicly disclosed. The status of a reported funding round that targeted a valuation of up to $500 billion is also unknown, with the source material noting it faced pushback from some investors. Furthermore, the precise criteria and circumstances under which Tether voluntarily cooperates with law enforcement agencies, as opposed to the binding legal obligations on U.S.-regulated firms, have not been fully detailed.

Tether’s dual strategy of aggressive global expansion and building deeper ties in the U.S. will likely attract further regulatory oversight. The move into diverse technology sectors like AI and Bitcoin mining positions it as a competitor to a broader range of companies, moving far beyond its stablecoin origins. The development of its El Salvador headquarters will be a key indicator of its operational centralization and its relationship with the Bukele administration. The market will also be watching to see if the company ever proceeds with a full financial audit to address long-standing transparency concerns.