Who Owns PayPal: Understanding the Company's Board and History

PayPal's history dates back to 1998 when it was founded by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin.

The company's early days were marked by its humble beginnings as Confinitya company that focused on hardware and software security.

In 2000Confinity merged with X.coma company founded by Elon Muskand the merged entity was renamed X.com.

PayPal's first major breakthrough came in 2002 when it was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion.

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PayPal is owned by its shareholderswith the largest ones being asset management giants Vanguard and BlackRock. They own 8.4% and 6.7% of the companyrespectively.

Vanguard owns 96 million shares of PayPalwhich is worth $5.6 billion. BlackRock owns 72.5 million sharesworth $4.5 billion. These two companies are among the largest asset managers in the worldand it's common to see them among top shareholders in large public companies.

PayPal's ownership is quite dispersedwith no other shareholder crossing the 5% ownership threshold. This means that no single individual or entity has a dominant stake in the company.

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Here are the largest institutional investors in PayPal:

PayPal's largest shareholders are not the same as its founders. Elon Musk and Peter Thielwho were among the largest shareholders after PayPal's initial IPO in 2002have since sold their stakes.

PayPal's largest shareholders are primarily asset management giantsincluding Vanguard and BlackRock. Vanguard owns 8.4% of PayPalwhile BlackRock owns 6.7%. These two companies have significant influence over PayPal's operations.

Vanguard's stake in PayPal is worth around $6.8 billionwhile BlackRock's stake is valued at approximately $5.4 billion. Both companies have a large number of shares in PayPalwith Vanguard owning 96 million shares and BlackRock owning 76 million shares.

Here's a list of PayPal's largest shareholdersincluding their ownership percentage and the value of their stake:

PayPal's ownership is quite dispersedwith no single shareholder holding a dominant stake in the company. This is due in part to the fact that PayPal's largest shareholders are asset managers who invest money on behalf of their clients.

As of December 2022the market value of PayPal's largest shareholders can be broken down into three main categories: VanguardBlackRockand Other. Vanguard holds an 8.4% stake in PayPalvalued at $6.8 billionwhile BlackRock owns 6.7% of the companyworth $5.4 billion.

Vanguard is the largest shareholder of PayPalowning 96 million shares and controlling 96 million shareholder votes. BlackRockon the other handowns 76 million shares and has 76 million shareholder votes.

The remaining 84.9% of PayPal's market value is held by Other shareholderswith a total value of $68.7 billion. This category includes a wide range of investorsfrom individual shareholders to institutional investors.

Here's a breakdown of the market value by shareholder:

Note that the market value of these shareholders may have changed since December 2022but this gives you an idea of the distribution of ownership at that time.

PayPal's Board of Directors is made up of 12 highly experienced individuals. Each member brings a unique set of skills and expertise to the table.

Rodney C. Adkinsa former IBM leaderserves as a director on PayPal's board. Alex ChrissPayPal's president and CEOhas a strong background in leadershiphaving previously held executive positions at Intuit and Houzz.

Jonathan Christodoroa seasoned investment bankerhas been on PayPal's board since 2015 and is currently a partner at Patriot Global Management. John J. Donahoechairman of PayPal's board since 2015is also presidentCEOand director at Nike.

David W. Dormana former chairman and CEO of SBC Communicationshas been on PayPal's board since 2015. He is also non-executive board chair of CVS and a founding partner of Centerview Capital Technology Fund.

Here is a list of the PayPal Board of Directors:

Belinda Johnsona former Airbnb executivejoined PayPal's board in 2017. Enrique LorespresidentCEOand director for HPhas been with the company for three decades.

Gail J. McGovernpresident and CEO of the American Red Crosshas been on PayPal's board since 2015. She currently chairs the corporate governance and nominating committee.

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PayPal's History Timeline is a fascinating story that spans over two decades. PayPal was founded in 1998 by Max LevchinPeter Thieland Luke Nosek as Confinity.

In 1999Elon Musk founded X.coma financial services website that aimed to provide easy digital payments for internet transactions. Confinity and X.com merged in 2000initially called X.com.

The company was renamed from X.com to PayPal in 2001and later went public in 2002rising 50% on its first trading day. eBay acquired PayPal shortly after for $1.4 billionand PayPal became its primary payment processing partner.

Here's a brief timeline of PayPal's history:

PayPal is currently not owned by eBayas it was spun off in 2015 after investor pressure led by Carl Icahn. This separation was complete when eBay dropped PayPal as its primary payment processing partner in 2018.

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PayPal was founded in 1998 as Confinityand later merged with X.com to become PayPal. This merger was a game-changer for the companyas it brought together two innovative technologies that would eventually dominate the email payments market.

The merger was a 50-50 equal partnershipa compromise reached by key players on both sidesincluding Bill Harristhe then-CEO of X.com. He was instrumental in making the deal happeneven if it meant jeopardizing his relationship with Elon Musk.

In 2002PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billionand was later spun off in 2015making it an independent entity once again. TodayPayPal is a publicly traded company with top institutional investors like The Vanguard Group and BlackRock owning significant portions of its stocks.

Here are some key highlights about PayPal's ownership: