Dive Brief:
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Visa Inc. announced that CEO Charlie Scharf is resigning effective Dec. 1, 2016, and that its board of directors has unanimously voted to appoint board member Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. to replace him.
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On a conference call with analysts Monday evening, executives took pains to emphasize that the move is a result of a personal decision on Scharf’s part to spend more time with his family on the East Coast, where he lives. Visa is headquartered in San Francisco.
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Kelly will begin working as CEO-designate on Oct. 31. He spent 23 years at American Express in a variety of leadership positions, including president and chief of its global consumer and consumer card services groups, and also serves on MetLife’s board.
Dive Insight:
Scharf didn’t elaborate on the reason for his departure on Monday's conference call, beyond saying that it was a personal, family-based decision and that he was no longer able to “do the job effectively” by commuting cross-country.
“[M]y wife and I have worked hard to continue to spend time with our daughters, parents and extended family who are all settled on the East Coast,” Scharf said. “Now, we need to be on the East Coast more than we are able, and therefore I don't feel like I can spend the time necessary in San Francisco to do this job properly. While I loved working and running this global company, running a San Francisco-based company just doesn't work for me personally right now, and wouldn't be fair to Visa."
Scharf notified the board of his potential plans in mid-September, allowing members to seek his potential replacement, a process officials characterized as thorough. They praised Kelly’s depth of experience and said little would change under his leadership.
Kelly said he will also be based on the East Coast, but plans to spend as much time as needed in San Francisco, as well as in Europe in light of the company’s recent acquisition of Visa Europe, completed in June.
Visa releases its latest quarterly report next week. This summer, the credit card giant and PayPal declared a truce in their years-long battle, with PayPal agreeing to stop discouraging its customers from using Visa and Visa pledging to keep its fees in check — a move hailed by Visa’s investors but frowned on by PayPal’s.
