There has been a leadership change at the ASX’s biggest buy now, pay later business. How will the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price react?
Afterpay’s leadership change
Afterpay announced this morning that Nick Molnar would be appointed as co-CEO and Managing Director, sharing the role with the current CEO and Managing Director Anthony Eisen.
The Chair of Afterpay, Elana Rubin, spoke of how the two co-founders used their ability to leverage their skills to create Afterpay’s success. She also said:
“As Afterpay continues to expand globally, the focus on its international operations has never been greater, as such, the co-founders and the Board believe that it is important to have an appropriate level of oversight, executive prominence and presence both internationally and domestically.
“To achieve this, Anthony and Nick will become co-CEOs of Afterpay. They will continue to share responsibility for executing on our strategy and their performance will be measured on the same key objectives. Nick will return to the US as soon as is practicable and Anthony will continue to be based in Australia.”
But what do the co-CEOs think of the change? I’m sure they think it’s a good idea, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it, but this is what Anthony Eisen and Nick Molnar said: “The decision to become co-CEOs is a logical one considering our global expansion plans and ambitious long term goals. We are both committed to leading the business over the long term, and driving our strategy to continue generating value for our shareholders.”
They’ll get $450,000 in base salary and superannuation, but it’s the long term incentives that could end up being worth much more to the CEOs.
What to make of this
It appeared that both of them were integral to the operations and growth of the business, even if their official positions didn’t reflect that. But now they do have the same title. If Afterpay thinks this move will help growth then that’s fair enough.
I’m not sure that Afterpay shares are worth buying or selling just on today’s news, though the vaccine news could be a better reason with a return to more activity and earning for the economy, which should help consumers and retail businesses.
However, there are other ASX growth shares I’d prefer to buy because of the enormous Afterpay share price. For example, I think Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH) has a much more profitable future.
