PayPal CEO To Investors: Let’s Celebrate 2019

PayPal’s CEO told investors and customers that the California-based electronic payments company deserves kudos for its performance last year.

In a letter to the PayPal community posted on LinkedIn on Thursday (April 9), Dan Schulman said the company ended last year with many accomplishments.

“What was once a checkout button has been transformed into a financial services and commerce platform driven by a mission to help merchants and consumers join and thrive in the global economy,” the executive wrote.

The note was first published in PayPal’s 2019 Annual Report.

Noting that PayPal employees are among the company’s most important assets, Schulman said wages were increased and the cost of healthcare for some workers was lowered by an average of 58 percent. In addition, the employee benefits package now includes an ownership stake in PayPal for every worker.

“Investing in our employees will help us better serve our customers and ultimately drive long-term value,” he wrote.

Schulman boasted about the company’s growth in 2019, including $17.8 billion in revenue. The strong revenues coupled with what he called disciplined expense management led to 28 percent year-over-year growth in non-GAAP earnings per share to $3.10. The company ended the year with a record 305 million individual accounts, including 24 million merchant accounts, he added.

In 2019, PayPal entered the China market with its purchase of Guofubao Information Technology Co., Ltd. (GoPay) for an undisclosed amount.

“With the acquisition of GoPay, PayPal became the first foreign payment platform licensed to provide online payment services in China,” Schulman said. “This important step allows us to be a stronger partner to Chinese financial institutions and technology platforms.”

In addition to GoPay, the company extended its global partnership with Uber, which will including expanding Uber’s digital wallet.

PayPal’s users also gave to charities in record levels last year, donating $10 billion worldwide in 2019, and more than $1 billion in December alone, wrote Schulman.

As the 2019 annual report was prepared, Schulman said the coronavirus pandemic had created an unprecedented amount of change and uncertainty in the world. “All of us at PayPal are committed to supporting our customers as they manage through the impact of the coronavirus, and we feel fortunate that we are in a position to help,” he wrote.