Digital payments giant PayPal has named Alex Chriss as its upcoming CEO, the company announced on Monday, August 14, 2023.
Chriss currently serves as the executive vice president and general manager of small business and self-employed group at Intuit, a company specializing in tax preparation software.
His appointment marks a strategic move that reflects PayPal’s ambition to increase its presence in the small business payments market.
With a notable history of successful dealmaking, Chriss is set to take over from Dan Schulman as the new CEO next month. Schulman will continue to serve on PayPal’s board until the upcoming annual stockholders’ meeting in May 2024.
Chriss’ most notable achievement during his tenure at Intuit was overseeing Mailchimp’s $12-billion acquisition and assimilation in 2021. He has been with the Intuit Group for the past two decades and has served in various executive positions.
“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,” said John Donahoe, chair of the PayPal board of directors. “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.”
The appointment marks a significant juncture for the digital payments powerhouse, as it is undergoing a change in leadership for the first time since its separation from parent company eBay in 2015.
“PayPal is an extraordinary company that plays a critical role in the lives of consumers and merchants all over the world,” said Chriss. “Throughout my career, I have championed small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs, who are the backbone of every economy in the world. I am proud to take the baton from Dan and thrilled to have the opportunity to work with PayPal’s talented and committed team to build on PayPal’s remarkable history and draw on its unique capabilities to deliver outstanding products and services to businesses and consumers.”
