This morning, Mastercard announced that Ajay Banga will be moving upstairs. Officially, Mr. Banga will step down as the CEO of Mastercard and hand over the reins to the Head of Product, Michael Miebach.
According to the announcement on Mastercard’s website, the changes are as follow:
Ajay Banga, President and Chief Executive Officer, to become Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors January 1, 2021
Michael Miebach, Chief Product Officer, to become Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors on January 1, 2021 and, as part of the transition, to become President March 1, 2020
Richard Haythornthwaite to retire as Chairman January 1, 2021
Merit Janow to become Lead Independent Director January 1, 2021
Banga’s accomplishments at Mastercard are many. Over his 10 years at the helm, he has delivered a compound annual growth rate of 13% and increased the stock price by about 16x. In that time, he also led a change in the company that shifted its focus from a payments network to a technology company. Along the way, he acquired a number of different companies and integrated them into Mastercard.
Mr. Miebach inherits a company that is in very good shape moving forward. He has broad-based experience leading different parts of the company that makes him well-suited for the position.
That said, he has very big shoes to fill. In a way, I equate it to being the coach that get hired when Bill Belichick retires: it’s tough to follow someone who has had so much success.
In all candor, I was a Mastercard employee from 2007 to 2017.
Overview by Peter Reville, Director, Primary Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group