{"id":671,"date":"2026-07-20T19:43:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671"},"modified":"2026-07-20T19:43:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:43:06","slug":"how-paypal-went-from-wall-street-favorite-to-unwilling-merger-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671","title":{"rendered":"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

By Hannah Lang, Milana Vinn and Manya Saini<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

July 20 (Reuters) – Five years ago PayPal was a Wall Street favorite and a leader \u2060in \u2060digital payments. Since then the stock has plunged, Apple Pay dominates payment \u2060services in the U.S. and PayPal is facing a takeover bid it does not like. What happens next?<\/p>\n

Read more Soccer-\u2018Great American Sleepover\u2019 Softens US Image Abroad, but World Cup Charm Campaign Hit Some Bumps<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

The company synonymous with digital payments this past week got a $53 billion \u200boffer to be taken private by upstart rival Stripe and buyout shop Advent International. PayPal\u2019s board is discussing the bid but believes $60.50 a share is not enough, people familiar with the company said. The board is expected to meet on Monday, said the people familiar \u200cwith PayPal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It is a comedown for a company that helped to \u200cpioneer e-commerce and email-based payments, launching the careers of tech titans Elon Musk and Peter Thiel in the process. Founded in 1998, the San Jose, California, firm was acquired by eBay in 2002 and spun off as an independent company in 2015. Continued growth \u2060pushed its market value as \u2060high as $360 billion in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But since then its growth has slowed and competition intensified, while multiple attempts in recent years to jumpstart its \u200bbusiness have borne little fruit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Dealmakers are now weighing the value of PayPal\u2019s sprawling payments ecosystem, from its 400 million-plus consumer accounts to its merchant checkout business, raising the question of whether the company is worth more as a single entity or as a collection of assets, such as the Venmo peer-to-peer payment app, that could be sold off in pieces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

PayPal declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In February, when the company named a new CEO, it acknowledged a need to address its position relative to competitors and within the broader industry landscape.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

“While some progress has \u200bbeen made in a number of areas over the last two years, the pace of change and execution was not in line with the Board’s expectations,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Enrique Lores, who took over as CEO \u2060in \u2060March, has not commented on whether PayPal would \u2060pursue a sale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

PAYPAL MISSES A BEAT ON NEW OPPORTUNITIES<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

While \u200bbigger rivals such as Apple, Google and Samsung and upstarts including Stripe and Affirm relentlessly rolled out new ways for consumers and businesses to pay for goods and services, analysts say PayPal was slow \u200bto explore opportunities in digital banking and commerce, or to offer fresh \u2060options when more people were using their phones to pay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cWhy bother becoming a digital bank if you can just be the world’s biggest checkout button?\u201d said Dan Dolev, senior analyst at Mizuho. \u201cI think it was too easy to drink the honey straight from the checkout jar.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Investors and industry executives are frustrated with PayPal’s performance, said one source familiar with the company’s deliberations. PayPal started before the iPhone even existed, but last year Apple Pay\u2019s U.S. market share exceeded PayPal\u2019s by 10 percentage points, according to PYMNTS Intelligence, a research company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

PayPal has also lagged many rivals in adopting AI and pushing into agentic commerce, in which AI agents negotiate and complete purchases on a user’s behalf.<\/p>\n

Read more Head of US AI Safety Agency Resigns<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Owen Lau, an analyst at financial services firm Clear Street in New York, said PayPal prioritized winning market \u2060share by pricing aggressively, but failed to charge enough to generate attractive returns. Clear Street began coverage of PayPal this past week with a hold rating and a price \u2060target of $61 a share. On Monday, PayPal was off 95 cents at $55.60.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

Lau added that growth has slowed across key parts of the business, including Venmo, while newer products such as buy now, pay later have not panned out. PayPal\u2019s user base has plateaued, he said, making growth a secondary concern to boosting profits from existing customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThey just want to win market share,” he said. “They\u2019re not charging appropriately, and they\u2019re losing momentum in other parts of the business.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The company has had three CEOs in four years and this March embarked on its second turnaround effort since longtime chief Dan Schulman stepped aside in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

BID MAY BE RAISED BUT RIVAL BIDS SEEN UNLIKELY<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Last year, according to a technology executive familiar with the matter, a deal with OpenAI to embed the PayPal digital wallet and processing into ChatGPT spurred a clash between the board and the executive team led by Alex Chriss, the CEO who succeeded Schulman. Chriss departed following Lores’ appointment, after the board asked to delay the deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Still, the board is unlikely to support a deal at $53 billion, said another person familiar with the company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Some discussions at the board level have centered on whether the bid is enough to\u00a0even warrant opening negotiations, the person said. The board is weighing whether the company could be worth more based on its intent to hit \u2060milestones in its latest turnaround plan, the source added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Wall Street analysts believe Stripe and Advent can afford to pay more, and will. They have assembled $17 billion in equity, Reuters has reported, and have raised $50 billion in bank financing, potentially giving them the capacity to raise their offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

The bidders’ decisions on price could be informed in part by what PayPal says this month when it reports quarterly earnings, with a weak report likely to increase pressure on PayPal and a strong one potentially encouraging a higher offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Competing bids for PayPal appear unlikely, however. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said this past \u200bweek that\u00a0Stripe and Advent International’s proposal would provide the “most credible path to value realization” for PayPal, which they said\u00a0faces intense wallet competition and a maturing customer base.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

(Reporting by Hannah Lang, Milana \u200bVinn in New York, Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Colin Barr, Michelle Price, Nick Zieminski and Edmund Klamann)<\/p>\n

Read more US Senators at Airshow to Reassure Foreign Defense Contractors, Urge Tariff-Free Trade<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[8,60],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","tag-sign-in-to-manage-your-newsletters","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"\nHow PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target - Office Moving America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target - Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T19:43:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"headline\":\"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T19:43:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671\"},\"wordCount\":1023,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/173638836cc7561770c8987c6e681532.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Sign in to manage your newsletters \u00bb\",\"United States\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Top News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671\",\"name\":\"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target - Office Moving America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/173638836cc7561770c8987c6e681532.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T19:43:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/173638836cc7561770c8987c6e681532.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/173638836cc7561770c8987c6e681532.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533,\"caption\":\"FILE PHOTO: PayPal, Stripe and Advent International logos are seen in this illustration taken July 15, 2026. REUTERS\\\/Dado Ruvic\\\/Illustration\\\/File Photo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=671#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Office Moving America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target - Office Moving America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target - Office Moving America","og_description":"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.","og_url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671","og_site_name":"Office Moving America","article_published_time":"2026-07-20T19:43:06+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"headline":"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target","datePublished":"2026-07-20T19:43:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671"},"wordCount":1023,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/173638836cc7561770c8987c6e681532.jpg","keywords":["Sign in to manage your newsletters \u00bb","United States"],"articleSection":["Top News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671","name":"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target - Office Moving America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/173638836cc7561770c8987c6e681532.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-20T19:43:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/173638836cc7561770c8987c6e681532.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/173638836cc7561770c8987c6e681532.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"FILE PHOTO: PayPal, Stripe and Advent International logos are seen in this illustration taken July 15, 2026. REUTERS\/Dado Ruvic\/Illustration\/File Photo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=671#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How PayPal Went From Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/","name":"Office Moving America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/officemovingamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}