Paysafe Group plc (PAYS.L), a provider of digital Payments and solutions, has appointed industry veteran Philip McHugh as its chief executive officer, replacing its longtime CEO and founder Joel Leonoff. The appointment takes effect on June 24.
The outgoing CEO will become vice chairman of the board of directors at the company he originally founded in 1997. He is said to remain closely involved in the development of the Paysafe’s corporate strategy. Leonoff has served as president and CEO since 2008, and also held roles of the company’s COO and CFO for nearly twenty years.
McHugh has more than 20 years of experience in international banking and payments. Most recently, he served as head of merchant-solutions division at Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), where he helped grow the company’s revenues and profits by over 30 percent. He leaves TSYS amid reports that Global Payments Inc. is seeking to acquire the payment provider for $21.5 billion in an all-stock deal.
More on McHugh’s background
Prior to TSYS, McHugh served as chief executive officer of Barclaycard Business Solutions, where he spent more than ten years, having also held the position of chief financial officer (CFO). Prior to Barclays, McHugh worked with Citigroup for over a decade, covering Latin America, including management roles with their credit card division in Brazil.
Commenting on the appointment, Paysafe Chairman Stuart Harvey said: "We are delighted that somebody of Philip’s caliber has accepted the role of CEO for Paysafe. His relentless focus on serving the customer, and his proven ability to drive operational excellence within complex financial organizations, has led to strong results throughout his career. This track record combined with his visionary approach will be invaluable as we advance the Company's corporate strategy."
Philip McHugh added: "I am truly honored to become part of the Paysafe story. Paysafe has built an incredibly unique payments business that is scaled, diverse, highly specialized and frankly hard to beat. The opportunity to continue to invest in, and Leverage Paysafe’s differentiated payments assets, as well as identify new areas of growth while working with a highly focused and energized team, is a very exciting one. I look forward to meeting the team and helping to take Paysafe to the next level of growth and scale.”
