PayPal announced on Tuesday that it has appointed Enrique Lores, the former president and CEO of HP Inc., as its new chief executive officer and president, replacing current CEO Alex Chriss. The leadership change will take effect on March 1, 2026, following a decision by the company’s board to pursue a different pace of execution in response to market conditions and internal performance.
Lores has served on PayPal’s board of directors for nearly five years and has held the position of board chair since July 2024. He is expected to assume leadership of the digital payments company in the coming weeks. Until that transition is complete, PayPal’s chief financial and operating officer, Jamie Miller, will serve as interim CEO to ensure operational continuity. Alongside Lores’s appointment, David W. Dorman has been named independent board chair, effective immediately.
According to PayPal’s board, the leadership change followed an extensive review of the company’s business and competitive position. The board concluded that “the pace of change and execution was not in line with the Board’s expectations” and expressed confidence that Lores’s experience would help steer the company through its next phase of growth and transformation.
Alex Chriss joined PayPal in September 2023 after serving in senior leadership roles at Intuit, where he succeeded longtime CEO Dan Schulman. During his tenure, Chriss advanced several strategic initiatives, including efforts to monetise Venmo and expand PayPal’s buy now, pay later offerings. However, the board determined that a leadership shift was necessary to accelerate execution.
The announcement comes at a challenging moment for PayPal, which recently reported fourth-quarter revenue and profit that fell short of analyst expectations. The company also issued a full-year forecast that surprised investors, who had anticipated growth. Following the earnings report and news of the CEO transition, PayPal’s shares declined sharply in pre-market trading, reflecting investor concern over the company’s outlook.
Lores, who led HP for more than six years, said his focus at PayPal will include both product innovation and consistent quarterly financial performance. He noted that the payments industry is evolving rapidly due to new technologies, changing regulations, heightened competition, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence. “PayPal sits at the center of this change, and I look forward to leading the team to accelerate the delivery of new innovations and to shape the future of digital payments and commerce,” Lores said in a statement.
