Jim Magats, former PayPal executive who will be appointed CEO of the startup MX
Photo: Tom Cook
MXthe startup competing against Plaid to help connect financial institutions and fintech players, appoints PayPal executive Jim Magats its new CEO, CNBC has learned.
Magats, a nearly two-decade PayPal veteran who most recently served as senior vice president of omni payment solutions, will start at Utah-based MX in mid-August, according to MX founder Ryan Caldwell.
“We’re thrilled with the resonance we’ve had with Jim, being a tenured executive in the space who fully understands not only the world of payments, but the world of data and connectivity and really understands what MX is all about,” he said Caldwell. in an interview
MX, like rivals Plaid and Yodlee, has benefited from and helped facilitate the growth of the US fintech ecosystem in recent years. The company uses software called application programming interfaces to help banks and fintechs securely “talk” to each other in terms of transactions and account data.
Magats takes over at an interesting time: He replaces Shane Evans, who was named interim CEO in January as the company prepared for an IPO or potential sale.
MX, which was valued at $1.9 billion in a funding round last year, had been seeking a transaction with a valuation of at least $5 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said at the time .
But since then, the IPO market has mostly shut down amid falling stock prices, especially for high-flying tech names. PayPal, for example, was worth much more 300 billion dollars at its peak last year; its market cap is now just under $100 billion.
This has weighed on companies’ pre-IPO valuations, as evidenced by the haircuts by prominent companies such as Swedish fintech Klarna and payments giant. stripe have taken the last few weeks.
Magats said in a Zoom interview this week that an IPO is not imminent and that there is no need to raise more funds in the “foreseeable future.”
“The goal is to build great products and experiences and scale them and do it securely and work with the financial institution and partnership ecosystem,” Magats said.
An IPO is “by no means the focus I’ve come to this company.”
He declined to comment on whether MX would have to reduce its headcount. Layoffs have become widespread in the startup world as investors push them to tighten their finances for tougher times ahead.
Magats spent 18 years at PayPal, helping its international growth and fostering partnerships with financial operators that he might have been reluctant to work with a disruptor.
He said he joined MX because he saw the potential for a two-way network between traditional financial players and fintechs.
“When I learned about MX and the mission, I was really excited because I think that’s where fintech is going, around having an open and secure data platform where people can contribute data and then cultivate it,” said Magats. .
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