Alex Chriss Succeeds Dan Schulman as the new CEO of PayPal

On August 14, after an extensive CEO search process carried out by the Board over the past months, PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) announced that Alex Chriss, a senior executive from Intuit, has been appointed as President and CEO, effective from September 27, 2023. Alex Chriss will also become a member of the Board of Directors on that same date.

Alex Chriss boasts a wealth of experience as a proficient and successful business leader, deeply immersed in technology and product development. Since January 2019, he has held the position of Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intuit’s Small Business and Self-Employed Group, an integral role responsible for driving over half of Intuit’s revenue.

The aim of the company was to identify a forward-looking leader with a broad background in global payments, product development, and technology capable of steering growth across PayPal’s platform for the foreseeable future. Alex Chriss has received unanimous backing from the Board and the CEO search committee. This endorsement follows comprehensive evaluation and engagement across the crucial metrics that underpin PayPal’s prospective achievements.

Chriss presently holds a position on Intuit’s executive leadership team and has overseen a global organization comprising thousands of colleagues responsible for bringing QuickBooks and Mailchimp to millions of users worldwide. The divisions under his guidance at Intuit have evolved into top-tier, comprehensive customer growth platforms for small and mid-market businesses and entrepreneurs, empowering them to manage and expand their ventures with certainty. Over the course of his leadership in the Small Business segment for five years, Chriss achieved remarkable compound annual growth rates of 20% and 23% for customer numbers and revenues, respectively. Notably, in 2021, he played a pivotal role in Intuit’s triumphant acquisition of Mailchimp, a $12 billion endeavor that significantly augmented the capabilities of Intuit’s platform and its user community.

Chriss joined Intuit nearly two decades ago and has steadily risen through various leadership levels within the company. His journey encompasses establishing Intuit’s Partner & Developer Platform, heading the Self-Employed Solutions team, and subsequently taking on the role of Chief Product Officer for the Small Business Group from 2017 to 2019. During this period, he orchestrated and executed a multitude of strategic initiatives that revitalized internal business units within Intuit, turning them into sustainable growth drivers for the organization.

The Chair of the PayPal Board of Directors, John Donahoe, stated, “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 The Board search committee worked diligently and thoroughly to find the right candidate to take PayPal into its next stage of growth and expansion, and we are confident Alex is that person.”

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