PayPal Picks Intuit’s Alex Chriss as New CEO

PayPal has named longtime Intuit executive Alex Chriss to serve as its new president and CEO.

The payments company announced Chriss’ appointment in a Monday (Aug. 14) press release, following a months-long search for a replacement for current president and CEO Dan Schulman.

“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,” John Donahoe, chairman of the PayPal board, said in the release.

Chriss has been with Intuit for 19 years, the last three as executive vice president and general manager of the company’s Small Business and Self-Employed Group, which is responsible for more than half of Intuit’s revenue, the release said. He also oversaw Intuit’s $12 billion acquisition of Mailchimp in 2021.

“Throughout my career, I have championed small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs, who are the backbone of every economy in the world,” Chriss said in the release. “I am proud to take the baton from Dan and thrilled to have the opportunity to work with PayPal’s talented and committed team.”

PayPal’s recent efforts on the small- to medium-sized business (SMB) front include June’s debut of a Tap to Pay (TTP) solution on Android for Venmo business profile customers and PayPal Zettle customers.

“By enabling (TTP) through Venmo business profiles, we are effectively placing the ability to accept card payments — alongside Venmo payments — just a few digital steps away from the 90 million users of the app with no need to download any additional software, let alone order and manage hardware,” PayPal Head of Product for Microbusiness Ed Hallett told PYMNTS at the time.

Schulman, who joined PayPal in 2014 and has led it since it separated from eBay and became an independent public company, announced in February his plan to retire.

“It has been a huge privilege to have the opportunity to lead this great company for the past 8½ years,” he said at the time. “However, I’m at a point in my life where I want to devote more time to my passions outside the workplace.”

He will remain part of the PayPal board until its annual shareholders meeting in May 2024, per the Monday release.