- Mastercard said CEO Ajay Banga will step down at the beginning of next year on Tuesday and will be replaced by Chief Product Officer Michael Miebach.
Mastercard said CEO Ajay Banga will step down at the beginning of next year on Tuesday and will be replaced by Chief Product Officer Michael Miebach.
Banga, who took over the company shortly after the financial crisis of 2008-09, saw the payment processor’s revenue triple as online shopping gained prominence worldwide during his tenure.
India-born Banga will assume the role of Executive Chairman, while on 1 March Miebach will become President of the company.
Chairman Richard Haythornthwaite will retire after more than a decade, the company said in a statement, when Banga assumes his new role.
Miebach served as managing director at Barclays Bank and general manager at Citibank before joining Mastercard as president of the Middle East and Africa in 2010.
Mastercard has entered into a new compensation agreement in connection with Miebach’s appointment as President that adds $750,000 to his annual base salary, the payment processor said in a filing.
Miebach will also receive $6.25 million in equity grant with a target value.
His compensation as chief executive will be later determined, the company added.
Mastercard on Monday warned that if coronavirus outbreak persists through the quarter, its first-quarter net income would take a hit.
The company’s shares were down nearly 2 percent in premarket trading at $319.
Banga, 60, who had been CEO of Mastercard for 10 years, said it was a privilege to be a part of the transformation of Mastercard as a company. “We are well-positioned for future success thanks to the efforts of the entire leadership team as we continue to embrace emerging and new technologies, making every device a commercial device.”
The Indian-born top executive said the company has built a growth-oriented mindset and operated with a sense of urgency, delivering an annual compound revenue growth of 13 percent from 2009 through 2019. Banga added further that as Mastercard moves into the next growth phase, they will have a deep leadership bench with Michael at the helm to take them to the next level.
Banga is one of the small and growing group of Indian Americans who are at the helm of the US and global multi-national giants. Indian-origin technology executive Arvind Krishna was appointed Chief Executive of American IT giant IBM last month. Krishna joined the club comprising Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga, PepsiCo’s former CEO Indra Nooyi, and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.
Banga said Miebach has a proven track record of producing and running businesses globally and has held leadership positions across payments, data, banking services and technology in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and the US.
