PayPal Holdings Inc. announced today that President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman will retire at the end of 2023, while also reporting better-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter.

Schulman (pictured) joined PayPal in September 2014, the same time then-owner eBay Inc. announced that it would split PayPal off into a separate company. The transaction was completed in April 2015. Schulman, who turned 65 in January, said he will work with PayPal’s board to ensure a smooth leadership transition and will continue to serve on the board after retiring.

“I’m proud of what we have accomplished at PayPal and of the incredibly talented and committed people I work with every day,” Schulman said in a statement. “Together, we have reimagined financial services and e-commerce and worked to improve the financial health of our customers.”

During Schulman’s time leading PayPal, the company saw its revenue grow from $9.2 billion in 2015 to $27.5 billion in 2022, with total active accounts more than doubling to over 430 million in 200 markets. Total payment volume grew from $288 billion to $1.36 billion over the same period.

For the quarter that ended Dec. 31, PayPal reported earnings before costs such as stock compensation of $1.24 a share, up 12% from the fourth quarter of 2021, on revenue of $7.38 billion, up 9% year-over-year. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.20 a share on revenue of $7.39 billion.

Operating income in the quarter rose 12% year-over-year, to $1.7 billion, driven by total payment volume rising 9%, to $357.4 billion. PayPal processed 6 billion transactions in the quarter, up 13%, with an average of 51.4 payments transactions per active account, also up 13%.

For the first quarter of 2023, PayPal expects adjusted earnings of $1.08 to $1.10 a share and revenue growth of 7%. For the full year, the company expects about $4.13 a share in earnings but did not give a revenue outlook.

Reuters reported that in its earnings call, Acting Chief Financial Officer Gabrielle Rabinovitch explained that PayPal is committed to lowering expenses amid a backdrop of its key e-commerce segment slowing down. “The rate of e-commerce growth in our core markets has decelerated,” Rabinovitch said. “Inflationary pressures have affected discretionary consumer spending and post-COVID spending patterns are still evolving.”

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