PayPal’s Meltdown Triggers Rare Backlash From Opendoor, Lightspark And Meta Execs: ‘Destroyed Its Product’

Executives of big tech firms have taken to X to shed light and give insights into PayPal’s disappointing run over the past few years.

• PayPal’s stock plunged more than 20% on Tuesday to its lowest level in nearly a decade, marking the worst single-day decline in its history.
• Opendoor CEO Kaz Nejatian said he watched PayPal destroy its product and hand over the roadmap to its sales team.
• Lightspark CEO David Marcus, former President of PayPal, posted on X, saying that Chriss was brought in explicitly to restore product conviction.

PayPal's latest quarterly results have stirred frustration beyond investors and Wall Street analysts, drawing rare public criticism from fellow Corporate America executives.

Shares of the fintech company plunged more than 20% on Tuesday to its lowest level in nearly a decade, marking the worst single-day decline in its history after disappointing earnings and the announcement that HP CEO Enrique Lores will take over as PayPal's new chief executive, succeeding Alex Chriss. 

Opendoor CEO Thinks PayPal ‘Destroyed Its Product’

Opendoor CEO Kaz Nejatian expressed disappointment, arguing that PayPal spent years prioritizing the growth of its Braintree unit at the expense of its core, namesake product—a strategy he suggested has contributed to the fintech giant's current struggles.

"They did insane things to make the company *look* good and avoided doing any of [the] things required to make the company actually *be* good," Nejatian said in a post on X.

“I watched as PayPal destroyed its product and handed [the] roadmap over to its sales team,” Nejatian said. He added that the last time the search for the PayPal CEO was very broad.

“Most people who had watched the company turned the job down because they knew what would happen the second they tried to fix the company. It is genuinely sad what has happened to one of the greatest companies ever founded,” he said.

C-Suite Leaders Provide Insights

Lightspark CEO David Marcus, former President of PayPal, took to X and provided insight into Chriss' 2023 appointment. Marcus said Chriss was an Intuit veteran with a strong product background and was brought in explicitly to restore product conviction. “It was the right instinct. But Alex came from software, not payments,” he said.

“He understood SMB product development. He didn't have the muscle memory for transaction economics, network effects, or settlement infrastructure,” the post read.

Regarding Lores’ appointment as the current CEO, Marcus said the new CEO has served on the PayPal board for five years. “I don’t know Enrique. And he might be a great leader, but on paper at least, he’s a hardware executive. For a payments company,” Marcus said.

Meta Platforms Vice-President of Meta Fundamental AI Research Stephanie Kasriel, in response to Marcus’ post, said that PayPal should acquire Lightspark and make him the CEO. “Though if they wait long enough, it might be Lightspark acquiring PayPal, with you as CEO - either way, the company appears to be deeply in trouble and really needs you back at the helm,” Kasriel said in the post.

How Are Retail Users Reacting?

Retail sentiment on PayPal improved to 'extremely bullish' from 'extremely bearish' a month ago, hitting a one-year high, and message volumes were at 'extremely high' levels, according to data from Stocktwits.

A bullish user on Stocktwits said the low guidance was intentionally set to enable the new CEO to easily outperform.

Shares of PayPal have declined 47% in the last 12 months.

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