Dive Brief:
- Jonathan Auerbach, chief strategy, growth and data officer at digital payments company PayPal, will leave the company next year, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Auerbach, who’s also an executive vice president at the San Jose, California-based company, will continue to serve in his current role through the end of the year, according to the filing. He will then serve as an adviser to the digital payments company until June 1, 2024.
- Auerbach has been at PayPal since 2015, according to PayPal’s most recent proxy filing. His compensation, which totaled $9.3 million last year, will remain unchanged during the period he serves as an adviser, the filing noted. His departure doesn’t reflect any dispute or disagreement with the company, PayPal said.
Dive Insight:
Auerbach’s departure plan comes as the payments company narrows the list of candidates for its CEO post.
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman announced in February that he planned to retire by the end of the year. In May, the company was urged to speed up the search for a new chief executive. Last week, Schulman said the company was “in the very final stages of the process” with “several” candidates for the role.
PayPal’s C-suite has experienced more turnover of late: The company has lost two chief financial officers in the past 16 months, and its chief accounting officer left in February.
Auerbach is “responsible for the company’s Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies business unit,” according to PayPal’s website. On Monday, the company launched its U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, which drew praise and ire from Congressmembers. “As the economy evolves towards new and emerging technologies, PYUSD is the next step in the journey,” Auerbach wrote in a LinkedIn post about the launch.
In a statement to Payments Dive, Schulman praised Auerbach’s contributions to the company.
“Jonathan exemplifies the kind of leadership it takes to lift teams to their highest performance, to navigate challenges and change, and to maximize opportunities,” Schulman said.
