What happened
Fortune reported on Feb. 3, 2026 that PayPal was pushing out CEO Alex Chriss, who succeeded Dan Schulman in late 2023 with a technology-focused vision built on AI and stablecoins. His replacement was board chairman Enrique Lores, then CEO of HP. PayPal's statement said: 'The pace of change and execution was not in line with the board's expectations.' The stock was around $42, against an all-time high of $308 in 2021 and down about 80% from five years earlier, and the company predicted lower earnings for 2026.
Fortune said Lores' appointment did little to reassure the market, and PayPal shares fell about 17% on Tuesday. The news reportedly blindsided HP, which named board member Bruce Broussard as interim leader. Fortune also pointed to rivals including Apple and Stripe eroding PayPal's checkout and payments business, and said the company had been unable to find a strategy to keep pace. Chriss had told Fortune in December that PayPal faced a 'classic innovator's dilemma.'
PayPal's own stablecoin, PYUSD, launched shortly before Chriss became CEO, had not gained meaningful share, with a market cap of about $3.5 billion compared with roughly $70 billion for market leader USDC.
Why it happened
The board said execution and the pace of change did not meet its expectations.
Per Fortune, competitors such as Apple and Stripe wore down PayPal's core payments and checkout business, and Chriss's strategy did not stop the slide.
PayPal's flagship new product, the PYUSD stablecoin, remained small next to the market leader.
The lesson
A technology vision that does not stop share loss to Apple and Stripe will not buy a CEO time. Replacing the CEO with a sitting CEO of another company can also unsettle the market.
Aftermath
Lores was due to formally begin on March 1, 2026, with chief financial and operating officer Jamie Miller leading in the interim. Lores' statement spoke in broad terms about a culture of innovation, speed and accountability for consistent delivery quarter on quarter.
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