HP CEO Enrique Lores Quits to Lead PayPal in Bombshell Tech Leadership Shakeup

Enrique Lores Is Out at HP and In at PayPal — A Corporate Bombshell Nobody Saw Coming

The announcement landed before markets opened, and within minutes, traders were scrambling. Enrique Lores, who has led HP Inc. since 2019 and steered the personal computer and printing giant through the pandemic boom and subsequent PC market slump, is leaving. Not retiring. Leaving — to take the top job at PayPal.

HP shares fell 8.3% in premarket trading. PayPal jumped 5.1%. The market was making a clear editorial judgment about which company got the better of the deal.

What Lores Built at HP — and Why PayPal Wants Him

Lores's tenure at HP was defined by discipline. He navigated the company through supply chain chaos, executed billions in share buybacks, aggressively restructured the printing division, and pushed HP into adjacent markets including commercial services and subscription-based ink programs. The company's stock more than doubled during his first three years in the role. More recently, HP has struggled as the post-pandemic PC boom faded and the commercial printing market contracted. Earnings guidance has disappointed for three consecutive quarters.

PayPal's board sees in Lores a seasoned operator who knows how to manage a large, mature technology company through a strategic transition. PayPal has been searching for a leader who can reinvigorate growth after years of market share pressure from Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App, and an expanding roster of fintech competitors. The company's stock is down nearly 60% from its 2021 peak.

According to a person familiar with PayPal's board deliberations, the search committee wanted someone with a demonstrated track record of managing complexity at scale. Lores ticked every box. The surprise is not that they wanted him — it is that he said yes.

HP Now Faces a Leadership Void

HP's board announced that Chief Financial Officer Marie Myers will serve as interim CEO while a formal search for a permanent successor begins. Myers is well regarded internally, but HP's board faces pressure to move quickly — the company has major strategic decisions pending, including the direction of its AI PC initiative and the future of its declining printing supplies business.

Several names are already circulating as potential permanent candidates. HP's board has retained a leading executive search firm and is expected to have a shortlist within 60 days, according to a person briefed on the process.

For the broader technology industry, the Lores move is the latest signal that PayPal — despite years of underperformance — remains a significant platform that serious executives want to run. The company processes over $1.5 trillion in payment volume annually and has more than 430 million active accounts. The question is whether a new leader can find a growth strategy that matches that underlying scale. Lores, who has built a reputation as someone who delivers on exactly that kind of mandate, now has his chance to answer it.