PayPal Names Airbnb Executive To Its Board

PayPal announced Tuesday (Jan. 17) it has appointed Belinda Johnson, chief business affairs and legal officer at Airbnb, to its board of directors. In a press release, the payment company said Johnson is an attorney and business leader “who has focused her talents on crafting and directing policies and strategies that enable high-growth, consumer-facing internet companies for more than two decades.” Johnson will serve on the audit committee at PayPal. Her appointment, while disclosed Tuesday, was effective as of Jan. 12.

Prior to joining Airbnb, Johnson was the deputy general counsel at Yahoo and served as the general counsel and corporate secretary at Broadcast.com, one of the first companies to stream music over the internet, which was acquired by Yahoo in 1999 for $5.7 billion.

“The board of directors and the entire PayPal team join me in welcoming Belinda to the board,” said Dan Schulman, president and chief executive officer of PayPal, in a press release. “Belinda has an impressive track record of accomplishments and is deeply experienced in high-growth markets driven by innovation. She will be a great addition to our board, and I look forward to her valuable contributions to PayPal.”

PayPal said the addition of Johnson to the board will increase the number of directors to 10.

“I’m honored and excited to serve on the board of PayPal, a dynamic Silicon Valley innovator and global FinTech leader,” said Johnson in the same press release. “It’s a compelling opportunity to contribute to a company that is not only achieving impressive business success but also delivering on a powerful social mission to democratize financial services to create opportunity for people, businesses and communities around the world.”

Earlier this month, PayPal announced it appointed Wences Casares to its board of directors. Casares is the founder and CEO of Xapo, a bitcoin company. The company provides tools for consumers to both purchase bitcoin and manage them through its digital wallet. It also enables consumers to spend bitcoin using the Xapo Debit Card or store them in Xapo’s secure Vault.