PayPal Appoints Alex Chriss As CEO As Dan Schulman Steps Down
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
PayPal has announced the appointment of Intuit executive Alex Chriss as the new President and CEO. Chriss’ appointment comes into effect on September 27, 2023, and he will join the company’s Board on the same date.
PayPal appoints Alex Chriss as new CEO
The appointment comes after an extensive search process for a new head for the payments company. According to the announcement, PayPal had undertaken a thorough engagement and evaluation of all the crucial metrics that would guarantee the company’s future.
Before his appointment as CEO, Chriss served as the Executive Vice President and the General Manager of the Intuit Small Business and Self-Employed Group. He also serves within the Intuit executive leadership team. While leading the Small Business segment, Chriss saw the customers and revenues record an annual growth rate of 20% and 23%, respectively.
Chriss joined Intuit 19 years ago and served in multiple roles, such as setting up the Intuit Partner and Developer Platform. He has also overseen and implemented strategic initiatives transforming businesses within Intuit and making them sustainable growth engines for the firm.
The Chair of the PayPal Board of Directors, John Donahoe, commented on the development saying, “With his depth of experience in product development, his passion for serving customers and his longstanding commitment to empowering and enabling small businesses, and his proven track record of developing and inspiring his team, Alex is the perfect leader to take PayPal forward and accelerate the company’s growth opportunities.”
Donahoe also appreciated the role that the former CEO, Dan Schulman, played in the company in the last eight years. Schulman will still be on the Board of the company until the next annual stockholders’ meeting, slated to happen in May 2024.
Chriss also commented on his appointment, saying that PayPal played a crucial role in the livelihoods of consumers and merchants globally. He expressed his excitement about working with the team at PayPal to build on the company’s history and leveraging the unique ability to deliver unique products and services to businesses and consumers.
PayPal launches stablecoin
One of the key factors that Chriss will focus on is PayPal’s expansion in the cryptocurrency industry. PayPal recently launched a dollar-backed stablecoin known as PayPal USD (PYUSD), making it the first major financial tech company to embrace digital currencies for payments and transfers.
PayPal USD is a stablecoin backed by USD deposits and short-term US Treasuries. Paxos Trust Co will issue the stablecoin and be available to PayPal customers across the United States.
The stablecoin can be redeemed for US dollars at any time, and it can also be used to buy and sell the other cryptocurrencies that PayPal supports on the platform, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The stablecoin will also be issued by Paxos, which used to offer the Binance-backed stablecoin known as Binance USD (BUSD). While giving a statement, Paxos said that PYUSD represented the next phase of US dollars on the blockchain.
