PayPal CFO John Rainey Leaving to Join Walmart as CFO

PayPal said Mr. Rainey will leave at the end of May and its board has launched a formal search for a successor. The San Jose, Calif.-based digital payments company also appointed Gabrielle Rabinovitch, its senior vice president of corporate finance and investor relations, as interim CFO.

Mr. Biggs, who joined Walmart in 2000 and became CFO in December 2015, will leave to pursue “opportunities in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors,” Walmart said in a November statement.

Mr. Rainey has experience leading the finances of large businesses in starkly different industries. He was the CFO of United Airlines Inc. from 2012 to 2015 before he joined PayPal. As Walmart’s CFO, Mr. Rainey will face myriad challenges, including its continued effort to grow online and fend off Amazon.com Inc., as well as rising inflation, a tight labor market and snarled global supply chains.

Walmart’s U.S. sales and profits have grown throughout the pandemic as shoppers stocked up on food and household goods. The company said in February that its revenue grew 2.4% to $572.8 billion for the year ended Jan. 31, compared to the previous year, while net income rose 1.7% to $13.9 billion.

Mr. Rainey is set to receive an annual base salary of $1 million as well as a $5 million sign-on bonus to be paid six months after he starts in the role, according to a regulatory filing. He also will receive a $15 million sign-on grant of restricted stock vesting over two years.

“While it is never easy to say goodbye, I am taking this next step in my career with confidence,” Mr. Rainey wrote on LinkedIn. “I know that I am leaving PayPal in strong and capable hands.”

Companies have increasingly considered recruiting executives with a broader range of backgrounds since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, said Cathy Logue, head of the CFO and financial practice group at recruiting firm Stanton Chase.

“The lines have blurred between industries, which means it makes it a little bit easier to change,” Ms. Logue said.

PayPal’s announcement of Mr. Rainey’s departure just prior to reporting first-quarter earnings April 27 is peculiar given the company has not reaffirmed or changed its guidance, said Dan Dolev, managing director at bank holding company Mizuho Financial Group Inc. who follows PayPal.

“When you have such a high-profile management change so close to when they’re supposed to report, it doesn’t look good,” Mr. Dolev said, adding it could signal weaker revenue growth than the company forecasted. A PayPal spokeswoman said the announcement timing is unrelated to its upcoming earnings.

—Denny Jacob contributed to this article.