PayPal Holdings Inc. named Blake Jorgensen as its next finance chief, succeeding John Rainey, who left the digital payments giant earlier this year for the same role at Walmart Inc.
Mr. Jorgensen’s appointment takes effect Wednesday, PayPal said in a press release. He most recently served as chief financial officer for about a decade at videogame maker Electronic Arts Inc., where he also held the dual role of chief operating officer from 2018 to 2021. Before that, he served as finance chief at Levi Strauss & Co. PayPal declined to make Mr. Jorgensen available for an interview.
Gabrielle Rabinovitch, PayPal’s senior vice president of corporate finance and investor relations, has served as interim finance chief since Mr. Rainey stepped down in May after nearly seven years as CFO.
San Jose, Calif.-based PayPal in February lowered its profit outlook for the year and shelved an ambitious growth strategy that it put in place in 2021, when it benefited from the pandemic-driven surge in e-commerce. But the return of shoppers to physical stores, as well as a more challenging economic outlook due to inflation and supply-chain disruptions, has put pressure on its business.
During the quarter ended June 30, net revenue rose 9% from the prior year period, to $6.8 billion, PayPal said Tuesday. The company reported a $341 million loss during the quarter, compared with a $1.2 billion profit a year earlier.
Expense management will be a priority for Mr. Jorgensen when he takes over his new role, said Moshe Katri, managing director at the investment firm Wedbush Securities Inc. PayPal on Tuesday said it expects to realize $900 million in cost savings this year, including from operating and transaction-related expenses, as well as $1.3 billion in savings in 2023.
PayPal is also looking for additional ways to improve efficiency and productivity, which could include scaling back on real estate and shifting hiring to lower-cost locations, Chief Executive Dan Schulman said during an earnings call Tuesday. The company plans to invest a portion of its savings back into the business, focusing on areas such as digital wallets, its Braintree payment-processing business and its online checkout function.
The company on Tuesday also said it has entered into an information-sharing agreement with activist investor Elliott Management Corp., which has a roughly $2 billion investment in the company, according to PayPal’s earnings release. A number of steps are being taken to realize “the significant value opportunity at the company,” Jesse Cohn, a managing partner at Elliott, said in the release.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Elliott Management had a stake in PayPal.
In his new role, Mr. Jorgensen will receive a base salary of $750,000, as well as an annual bonus with a target value of 125% of his annual pay, PayPal said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. Additionally, he will receive new-hire stock awards valued at $2 million, made up of restricted and performance-based stock, as well as a supplemental restricted stock award valued at $8 million. Mr. Jorgensen will also receive a new-hire cash bonus of $6 million, the filing said.
—Denny Jacob contributed to this article.
Write to Kristin Broughton at [email protected]
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