Fortune recently ranked Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, near the top of its annual World’s Greatest Leaders list, and as long-term shareholders of PayPal, we agree with their assessment. We have watched Dan lead PayPal’s ongoing growth into a digital platform responsible for more than $1 trillion in payments globally last year. In addition, he has been steadfast and outspoken about the role of business in society and the need to modify capitalism.
We were thrilled to have the opportunity to speak with Dan during our latest episode of the NOW Podcast. Brown Advisory's Ken Coe spoke with Dan about how he views his employees as his number one constituency; PayPal's role in providing working capital and creating virtuous cycles in low-income neighborhoods; the future of financial technology; the need for all of us to rise above our own self-interest to drive progress for all, and more.
To wrap up the discussion, Ken brought in Jake Cusack and Efe Braimah from our frontier markets partner, CrossBoundary, to continue the conversation about opportunities in the fintech sector and making a difference.
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Episode Introduction
Trust in our institutions is at an all-time low. Meanwhile, we are all trying to navigate through a pandemic, political polarization, racial injustice, climate change, cybersecurity threats, wealth inequality, the limitations of remote work……the list goes on. Business leaders are being asked to step into the void – to speak out and engage on societal issues, in addition to delivering profits.
Perhaps no business leader has embraced this duality more than Dan Schulman. Dan is the CEO of PayPal, a digital payments platform at the forefront of a paradigm shift that is changing the way merchants and consumers transact, move money and manage their financial well-being globally. To give you an idea of scale: PayPal employs more than 26,000 employees located in more than 30 countries worldwide, has more than 400 million active accounts globally and in the last 12 months PayPal facilitated over 17 billion transactions representing more than $1 trillion in volume. Dan’s leadership has been good for shareholders – which include Brown Advisory’s clients; PayPal stock has outperformed the S&P 500 by over 400% over the six years that Dan has led the company in the public domain.
But Dan has focused on much more than shareholder returns. He has been outspoken in his views about business’ ability – and obligation – to be a force for good. His leadership through the pandemic earned him the number three ranking on Fortune’s 2021 list of the World’s Greatest Leaders. This is just the latest on a long list of accolades that range from Fast Company’s list of 100 Most Creative People to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope award.
Hi- I’m Ken Coe, and I’m an equity research analyst at Brown Advisory. I cover financial technology companies, including PayPal. I get to talk with a lot of accomplished CEOs, but I have to say, Dan is distinctive as a leader, an innovator and, as you’ll hear, as a candid communicator. It is a genuine pleasure to have him on the podcast.
Guest
Host
Ken Coe, CFA
Equity Research Analyst
Ken is an equity research analyst covering the financial sector and is also an associate portfolio manager of the Sustainable Small-Cap Core strategy. Prior to joining the firm, he served as an analyst at First Annapolis Consulting and also worked on a financial econometrics research study.
Investment Commentary
Efe Braimah
Associate Principal, CrossBoundary
Efe has a first-class Master in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Imperial College London. She is a native of Nigeria, and has also lived in China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Tanzania. Prior to joining CrossBoundary, Efe worked for The Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”), where she supported the BCG Energy practice in upstream transformation for oil and gas supermajors as well as the BCG Social Impact practice in strategy development and government stakeholder engagement for donor-funded organizations in Nigeria. Efe also worked at Symbion Power LLC, where she carried out transaction due diligence, project investment analysis and financial modelling for captive and off-grid power projects to drive Power Africa transaction goals. Efe also worked in financial institutions analytics at Citibank, where she supported the Credit Risk Management Team to help identify credit risk and manage the allocation of facilities to local commercial banks. Efe is a member of the investment advisory team and is based in CrossBoundary’s Lagos office.
Jake Cusack
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, CrossBoundary
Jake Cusack is Managing Partner of the CrossBoundary Group, a firm focused on bringing private capital into underserved markets to drive sustainable growth and strong returns. He co-leads the firm’s advisory business as well as its direct investment platforms. Mr. Cusack holds joint MPP and MBA degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Cusack has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, The New Republic, and Inc. Magazine. Prior to CrossBoundary, Mr. Cusack served as a Marine Corps officer, winning the Bronze Star for actions in Iraq.
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