How PayPal went from Wall Street favorite to unwilling merger target

PayPal, once valued at $360 billion in 2021, has seen its market value decline sharply amid slowing growth and intensifying competition from Apple, Google, Stripe, and Affirm. The firm appointed Enrique Lores as its third CEO in four years in March, with the board evaluating whether PayPal is worth more as a whole or split into assets like Venmo, while a board reportedly unlikely to support a deal at around $53 billion. PayPal's US market share fell 10 percentage points behind Apple Pay last year, and shares recently traded at about $55.60.