Stefan is a theoretical physicist by training, holding a degree from the University of Bonn, and he spent some time at Ecole Polytechnique near Paris. He also holds an MBA degree from INSEAD.

Immediately after university he became a quant, developing pricing software for derivatives, where he lead Paribas' equity derivatives quant team worldwide. After the MBA he joined McKinsey & Co. as a consultant in the Corporate Finance practice, which is where he first got introduced to financial services regulation proper, in the form of the Basel 2 regulations. He then joined J.P. Morgan where he continued advising clients on Basel 2, helping them to position their balance sheets to optimise regulatory and economic capital and liquidity constraints.

After leaving J.P. Morgan he built an edtech platform for business schools to improve their online and classroom teaching. He was also invited to join the PRMIA Education Committee, and to co-edit and co-author the most recent revision of the PRMIA Handbook, the study guide for students taking the prestigious Professional Risk Manager^TM exam. More recently he was serving as CTO of an early stage start-up in the non-traditional lending space. His current focus is on bridging the gap between crypto and traditional finance, setting up structures that allow both of those spaces to work together while being in compliance with the applicable regulations.