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HP CEO Enrique Lores has announced that he’s departing the PC maker to lead PayPal.
In a post on LinkedIn, Lores says his resignation is effective immediately. He's led the company as CEO since 2019, however Semafor reports that HP was “blindsided” by the decision, which was only communicated to the company's board in recent weeks. In his LinkedIn post, Lores notes he’s been at HP for 36 years after joining as an engineering intern.
HP declined to comment beyond its own announcement about the leadership shuffle. The company has named board member Bruce Broussard as interim CEO and will now search for a new executive to lead the PC maker.
Meanwhile, PayPal is dumping its previous CEO, Alex Chriss, saying, "The pace of change and execution was not in line with the Board's expectations." The company notes the Lores has "served on the PayPal Board for nearly five years and as Board Chair since July 2024."
Lores is leaving as the PC market is poised to face a tough year due to the ongoing memory shortage, which has caused skyrocketing prices for RAM, storage, and graphics cards. Although HP has a stockpile of memory, Lores previously warned that he expects that rising memory prices will eat into the company’s margins by May, forcing it to raise prices and lower memory configurations.
According to the research firm IDC, HP was the second largest PC vendor by shipments last year with a 20% share, trailing behind Chinese PC maker Lenovo.
Lores is taking over as PayPal’s CEO starting on March 1. In his note, Lores said: “Leaving is not easy. I love HP, and I've approached every day with the same excitement.” But he later added, “This unique opportunity to serve as CEO of PayPal, be part of a transformation, and make a lasting impact on the global payments industry, sparks those same feelings for me.”
His interim replacement, Broussard, previously served as CEO for health insurance provider Humana before stepping down in 2024. In his own note, Broussard said: “Our priorities here are clear: execute our 2026 plan to lead the Future of Work, take great care of our customers, partners, and suppliers, and continue building a company where people are proud to work and grow.”