Franz Paasche

SVP, Corporate Affairs
PayPal
US

 

Franz Paasche joined PayPal in 2015 as the payments giant prepared for its split from parent company eBay and the two companies became independent, publicly-traded companies. His work on this transition resulted in a promotion to senior VP in 2016, when he told Ethical Corporation: “We find ourselves at a defining moment in time, when companies must think and act more coherently and consistently about how their values play out in the world… At PayPal that means that we’re focused on our ability to make a difference in the lives of those who are underserved by the financial system – relentlessly working together to reimagine money and democratize the financial system to improve the financial health of our customers.”

Under his tenure, PayPal’s corporate affairs function has undergone a significant transformation, with the creation of a cross-functional team across communications, government relations and social innovation. This change has been accompanied by some churn, with notable departures and an agency consolidation with Edelman.

Before Paasche joined PayPal in 2015, he spent spent almost four years at McKinsey & Company, where he was responsible for external relations, public affairs, strategic communications and reputation risk, and oversaw issues management in North America. Prior to that, he was a senior partner at FleishmanHillard and was managing director at Clark & Weinstock, and is one of the few comms industry leaders to hold a law degree.