Dan Schulman published a farewell post to PayPal employees a day before his last day as CEO. He announced his retirement in February and helped search for his replacement.
Last month, PayPal announced Intuit executive Alex Chriss would take the reigns on September 27.
After 9 years at the company, Schulman started off telling employees he was proud of all they had accomplished. “Like life, we’ve inevitably gone through our share of ups and downs. We have so much to be proud of – and yet so many more exciting things to accomplish as we look forward.”
The 65-year old then explained he had had a recent medical emergency:
“This week, I have more reasons than ever to value our PayPal community and the support we give to each other. I wanted to share with you that several days ago, I had emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix. It was a tremendously painful and sobering experience, but I’m grateful that my surgery was successful, and I’m now on the path to a full recovery. The situation could’ve been more dire had I not received timely and excellent medical care. I’m so appreciative of the love and support of my family, friends, and colleagues – and of our amazing PayPal community. Life is precious and the time we have together to make a difference is so valuable. And it’s often the things that happen unexpectedly that give us so many lessons.”
Schulman guided PayPal through the breakup with eBay in 2015. In announcing his departure earlier this year, he wasn’t specific about his plans for the future, saying, “I’m at a point in my life where I want to devote more time to my passions outside the workplace.”
Prior to joining eBay in 2014, Schulman served as President of American Express’ Enterprise Growth Group, taking credit for the launch of its next-generation digital payments platform, among other accomplishments.
Schulman closed his letter to employees by handing off the torch to his replacement. “I will step down from my role as CEO tomorrow, but the steps I took leaving the hospital this weekend have given me the perspective I needed to truly express my appreciation to all of you. You will have great leadership with Alex. He has my full confidence, respect, and loyalty — and I will do everything that I can do to help him, and the absolutely amazing and wonderful PayPal team whom I’ve grown to love. I will miss every one of you. Stay well, healthy, and happy, and treasure every moment ahead. Please stay in touch – and do great things in the world.”
