Franz Paasche

Head of Corporate Affairs and Social Innovation Initiatives, PayPal

As Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications, Franz W. Paasche leads PayPal’s global external and internal communications functions and the company’s global government relations and public policy activities which contribute to the company’s overall Business Affairs mandate. He also is responsible for leading PayPal’s Social Innovation efforts to drive positive social impact and make a difference for consumers, businesses and communities around the world. In this role, Franz brings over 25 years of experience extensive expertise in corporate, communications, government, legal and public affairs domains to PayPal’s expanding global network.

Before joining PayPal, Franz served as Head of External Relations for North America for McKinsey & Company, where he was responsible for external relations, public affairs, strategic communications and reputation risk, and oversaw issues management, thought leadership initiatives, and knowledge relationships across McKinsey’s Americas region. In addition, he served on the firm’s Global Communications and Publishing Executive Committee and provided counsel to McKinsey’s senior leadership and practice leaders.

Prior to McKinsey, Franz was a Senior Partner at Communications Consulting Worldwide, Fleishman Hillard’s multi-disciplinary strategic communications firm. Head of the firm’s leadership communications practice, he provided counsel to a wide range of global and national companies and institutions on reputation management, strategic leadership communications, brand development, public affairs and crisis communications.

In addition, Franz has been a Managing Director of the New York strategic communications firm Clark & Weinstock; General Counsel and Executive Vice President at the real-time financial information and technology company Market Data Corporation; and a litigator with the international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. He’s a former staff member for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and has served as a lecturer on Leadership in Communications at Columbia University’s School of Continuing Education.

Franz graduated from Swarthmore College with High Honors in Political Science, English Literature and American Economic History. He received his law degree from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an editor of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. He is a member of the Bar in New York State and in New York City. He also is a member of the Arthur Page Society and in 2016 was named on the Holmes Report Influence 100 list of the industry’s most influential corporate communications executives.