Former Barclays managing director Simon Bladon joins PayPal as UK CEO
Barclays’ long-serving managing director Simon Bladon has announced he has departed the British bank to take on the role of UK CEO at PayPal. The appointment, effective January 2024, remains subject to regulatory approval.
PayPal appoints Simon Bladon as new UK CEO
Alongside his new role, Bladon is expected to serve as vice president of global entity management for the payments giant, leveraging more than two decades of financial strategy, regulatory transformation and data privacy experience.
Much of this experience is derived from his extensive tenure at Barclays, which he first joined back in 2004 as managing director, head of legal EMEA and markets, advising the business on the rebuilding of Barclays Investment Bank.
Since then, Bladon has served in a variety of leadership positions for the bank throughout the years, and had a hand in the creation of both Barclays International and Barclays Ventures, leading the latter’s increased engagement with fintech companies.
Most recently, he held the position of managing director, customer and digital, head of operations and control from May 2023, where as part of his remit, he oversaw the group-wide implementation of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty.
Bladon’s new move follows PayPal’s appointment of former Intuit executive Alex Chriss as its president and CEO in September, while Archie Deskus and Jamie Miller were also named as its new chief technology officer (CTO) and chief financial officer (CFO) in November, respectively.
