PayPal names Intuit exec Alex Chriss as new CEO and president

PayPal’s board of directors has appointed senior Intuit executive Alex Chriss as new chief executive officer and president of the digital payments platform.

Chriss will take up his new role at PayPal and join the board on 27 September 2023, succeeding Dan Schulman, who announced his intention to retire earlier this year.

Since January 2019, Chriss has served as executive vice president and general manager of Intuit’s small business and self-employed group, responsible for more than half of the company’s revenue.

Chriss led the small business segment for five years, during which time he grew its customers and revenues at a compound annual growth rate of 20% and 23%, respectively.

Incoming president and chief executive officer of PayPal, Alex Chriss

In 2021, he oversaw Intuit’s $12 billion acquisition of Mailchimp.

He worked at Intuit for 19 years, and over that time, created Intuit’s partner and developer platform, led the self-employed solutions team and served as the small business group’s chief product officer from 2017 to 2019.

“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.”

Chriss added: “PayPal is an extraordinary company that plays a critical role in the lives of consumers and merchants all over the world.

“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.”

Donahoe also thanked Schulman, who will remain on the board of PayPal until its next annual meeting of stockholders in May 2024.

“On behalf of the board, I also want to thank Dan Schulman for his outstanding leadership during PayPal’s eight years of growth as an independent company.

“Dan made many major contributions to PayPal and helped establish the strong foundation for the future,” Donahoe said.