Afterpay’s Molnar returns to CEO role as payment giant accelerates global push

Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar will resume as chief executive of the $29 billion buy now, pay later giant, sharing the role with co-founder Anthony Eisen as the payments platform accelerates its push into global markets.

The move unwinds Afterpay’s restructuring last July when Mr Molnar stepped down as CEO to take on the role of global chief revenue officer and Mr Eisen shifted from the executive chairman’s role to become chief executive.

“As Afterpay continues to expand globally, the focus on its international operations has never been greater, as such, the co-founders and the board believe that it is important to have an appropriate level of oversight, executive prominence and presence both internationally and domestically,” the company said on Tuesday morning.

Nick Molnar will regain his CEO title at Afterpay.
Nick Molnar will regain his CEO title at Afterpay.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

“To achieve this, Anthony and Nick will become co-CEOs of Afterpay. They will continue to share responsibility for executing on our strategy and their performance will be measured on the same key objectives.”

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Mr Molnar – who will be paid $450,000 a year for the role – will return to the United States as soon as is practicable and Mr Eisen will continue to be based in Australia.

Mr Molnar and Mr Eisen each hold a 7 per cent stake in Afterpay worth about $2 billion. The company’s shares last traded at $101.40 and have risen nearly 250 per cent in 2020.

In a joint statement, the pair said: “The decision to become co-CEOs is a logical one considering our global expansion plans and ambitious long-term goals. We are both committed to leading the business over the long term and driving our strategy to continue generating value for our shareholders.”

At the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday Mr Eisen said Afterpay continued to perform strongly with record underlying sales in October “and we are performing ahead of this in November.”

He said that instore sales in Australia and New Zealand reached 23 per cent of total sales for the region in recent weeks. This is despite the Victorian lockdown.

“On our key financial and performance metrics, there is no change to the comments we made around gross losses, net transaction losses and net transaction margins in our first-quarter business update, and we are pleased with how the business is tracking in the first six weeks of the second quarter for FY20,” he said.

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Source: Thanks smh.com