PayPal Leadership: Then, Now, and the Future

January 19, 2012 3:00 PM

PayPal: A Brief History

PayPal was founded in 1998 to move money between two Palm Pilots. After it became more popular than eBay's own payment system, the auction site bought PayPal in 2002. After becoming a leader in Internet-based payments, PayPal appears to be returning to its roots through recent work with mobile devices.

(Image: Bloomberg News)

Peter Thiel and Max Levchin

Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, PayPal's founders, took on the rival payment systems backed by major banks and also faced early Internet fraudsters. The two are still collaborating today by writing a book called "The Blueprint."

(Image: Bloomberg News)

Bill Harris

Harris remained influential in financial services after departing from PayPal by co-founding PassMark, which is behind the personalized security images used for logging into bank websites. Harris is now CEO of Personal Capital, an online financial advisory site.

Rajiv Dutta

Dutta was president of PayPal from 2006 to 2008, when he was named president of eBay's auction business. John Donahoe, who ran the auction business before Dutta, was promoted to eBay CEO to replace Meg Whitman. Dutta died last year after a battle with cancer.

Scott Thompson

Thompson headed PayPal beginning in 2008 and left abruptly this month to become CEO of Yahoo Inc. During Thompson's tenure as PayPal's president, it launched a development platform to expanded its compatibility with banks and other technology systems. "Scott's departure was a surprise," eBay CEO John Donahoe told analysts.

(Image: Bloomberg News)

John Donahoe

Donahoe, eBay's CEO, is running PayPal until a permanent president is named. Even without Thompson, "the PayPal leadership team has never been stronger," Donahoe told analysts. "I've replaced 75 of the top 100 people in" eBay, including many at PayPal, to build a stronger management team.

(Image: Bloomberg News)

Ranjana Clark

Clark, PayPal's chief customer and marketing officer, has 26 years in banking and payments. She has held leadership roles at Western Union Co., Wachovia Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. She has also been named to American Banker Magazine's 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking and Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance lists.

Gary Marino

Marino joined PayPal in 2008 when it acquired his company, Bill Me Later. Marino's instant online credit system was one of the few alternatives to seriously challenge PayPal, which tried to compete with a system called Pay Later. Marino is now PayPal's senior vice president of global financial services.

Mark Lavelle

Lavelle, PayPal's vice president of strategy and business development, was a part of Bill Me Later's management team when PayPal bought the company in 2008. He was previously First USA/Bank One's vice president of Internet business development and has expertise in marketing analysis and credit risk management.

Patrick Dupuis

Dupuis, PayPal's chief financial officer, joined PayPal in 2010 with decades of corporate financial experience. He was previously a financial executive at Sitel Worldwide Corp. and spent 20 years with General Electric Co., where one of his roles was CFO for GE Healthcare.

David Marcus

Marcus joined PayPal last year when it bought Zong, the mobile payments company he founded and headed. Zong allowed consumers to pay for goods and services via their mobile phone bills. Marcus is currently PayPal's vice president of mobile.

Don Kingsborough

Kingsborough is perhaps best remembered as a veteran of the toy industry. He founded Worlds of Wonder Inc., which made the Teddy Ruxpin toy. More recently, he was chief executive of the gift card services provider Blackhawk Network Inc., which is now a unit of Safeway Inc.

Sam Shrauger

Shrauger, PayPal's vice president of global product and experience, helped launch PayPal’s system for purchasing digital goods within computer games and helped lead the integration of Bill Me Later.

Ed Eger

As senior vice president and general manager for North America, Eger runs PayPal's largest business unit. Eger was previously the CEO of Citigroup's international credit card business and has held leadership roles in financial services across the globe.

Rupert Keeley

Keeley is the senior vice president for PayPal's Asia Pacific region and works in Singapore. Prior to joining PayPal, he spent 11 years at Visa Inc., where, among other roles, he was the group executive and president of the Asia Pacific and CEMEA regions.

Igor

Another notable name in PayPal's lineup is Igor, the transaction-monitoring software for which PayPal credits its early survival. The system, unveiled in 2000, was named for the username of a particularly persistent fraudster who consistently thwarted an early, basic anti-fraud system.

(Image: ThinkStock)