Good morning. PayPal’s CFO Jamie Miller’s job has expanded to include the role of chief operating officer. Miller is now the chief financial and operating officer. This is happening at a time when the company, which is one of the world’s largest fintechs with a roughly $73 billion market capitalization, is pursuing ambitious growth plans.
Miller joined PayPal (No. 145 in the Fortune 500) in 2023. She was previously global CFO of EY and before that, CFO of Cargill. Miller also spent 12 years at General Electric. The trend of CFOs taking on the chief operating officer (COO) role continues. Earlier this month, Salesforce appointed Robin Washington to the newly created position of president and COFO—chief operating and financial officer. What's also interesting is the COO role is often meant to be a temporary development position for CEO aspirants, according to Spencer Stuart’s new report on C-suite roles at Fortune 500 companies.
When I had a conversation last October with Scott Simmons, co-managing partner of executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates, he named Miller among the CFOs who could potentially become a chief executive at a Fortune 500 company in the near future. So I asked him about Miller now leading PayPal’s operations.
“It was no surprise Jamie’s remit was expanded,” Simmons told me. In addition to her deep finance and accounting experiences, she has run a significant P&L at GE Transportation, and has served as chief information officer of GE, he said. “She is a proven leader.”
"As PayPal rolls out its new strategy, it is now crystal clear that Jamie will be in a lead position driving the train forward," Simmons said.
PayPal's ambition
During PayPal’s investor day on Tuesday, the fintech unveiled its newest merchant product, PayPal Open, a single platform that allows businesses to access a full suite of checkout solutions, including PayPal, Venmo, Fastlane, and Pay Later offerings, Fortune’s Luisa Beltran reported.
Companies will also be able to access PayPal’s global network of up to 400 million active accounts, including more than 92 million active Venmo customers, Beltran writes. PayPal Open is expected to be available in the U.S. during the Spring and will expand to the U.K. and Germany later this year.
The company also said that by 2027, non-GAAP EPS would increase by a percentage in the low teens. And, PayPal has ambitions to grow by 20% longer term. Also by 2027, it expects transaction margin dollars to increase by high single digits with more than 10% growth in the long term.
The company’s ideas unveiled at investor day make basic sense, Brett Horn, senior equity analyst at Morningstar wrote in a note on Tuesday. “It is important for companies like PayPal to consistently adjust their approach and adapt to changes in the payment landscape,” Horn said.
Morningstar doesn’t see these new plans as “dramatic shifts” and the primary consideration is the execution of the company’s current strategy, Horn said. “We will maintain our $104 fair value estimate and see shares as undervalued,” he said.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
