Enrique Lores

Enrique Lores
Lores in 2024
Enrique Lores
Born	Enrique José Lores Obradors 1965
Birthplace	Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish-American
Occupation	Business executive
Title	CEO of PayPal
Known for	President and CEO of HP Inc. (2019–2026); CEO of PayPal (2026–present)
Education	Polytechnic University of Valencia (BEE) ESADE Business School (MBA)

Enrique José Lores Obradors (born 1965) is a Spanish-American business executive who served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of HP Inc. from November 2019 to February 2026. In February 2026, he was appointed CEO of PayPal Holdings Inc., succeeding Alex Chriss. Born in Madrid, Lores spent over three decades at Hewlett-Packard and its successor company HP Inc., rising from an engineering intern to the company's top leadership position. During his career at HP, he held senior roles across the company's Personal Systems, Print, Industrial, and Services businesses, and played a central role in the 2015 separation of Hewlett-Packard into two publicly traded companies: Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc. As CEO of HP Inc., Lores oversaw the company through significant shifts in the global computing and printing markets, implementing a strategy centered on portfolio expansion, digital transformation, and workforce restructuring. His appointment as CEO of PayPal in early 2026 marked a transition from the hardware and printing technology sector to the digital payments industry.

Early Life

Enrique José Lores Obradors was born in 1965 in Madrid, Spain. Details regarding his family background and upbringing have not been extensively documented in public sources. Lores grew up in Spain and pursued his higher education at institutions in the Valencia and Barcelona regions before embarking on a career in the technology industry that would eventually take him to the United States.

Education

Lores earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, one of Spain's prominent technical universities. He subsequently obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, a graduate business school affiliated with Ramon Llull University. The combination of technical and business education formed the foundation for Lores's career trajectory, which spanned engineering, operations, sales, and general management in the global technology sector.

Career

Early Career at Hewlett-Packard (1989–2015)

Lores began his career at Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 1989, joining the company as an engineering intern shortly after completing his degree in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Over the course of the next three decades, he rose through the ranks of the organization, holding a series of senior leadership positions that spanned multiple business units and geographic regions.

During his tenure at Hewlett-Packard, Lores gained experience across the company's Personal Systems, Print, Industrial, and Services businesses, serving in roles at both the regional and worldwide level. Among his notable positions were general manager of HP's commercial personal computer business, senior vice president of worldwide customer support and services, and senior vice president of worldwide sales and solutions. These roles gave Lores broad operational exposure to HP's diverse product portfolio and its global customer base.

One of the most significant chapters of Lores's career at Hewlett-Packard was his involvement in the company's corporate split. In 2015, Hewlett-Packard undertook a complex separation into two independent publicly traded companies: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, focused on enterprise products and services, and HP Inc., which retained the personal computing and printing businesses. Lores led the Separation Management Office, playing a key role in planning and executing the division of one of the world's largest technology companies into two distinct entities. The separation, which became effective on November 1, 2015, was one of the largest corporate splits in the technology industry at the time.

Leadership at HP Inc. (2015–2019)

Following the completion of the Hewlett-Packard split, Lores continued in senior leadership at the newly formed HP Inc. He served as President of HP's Imaging, Printing and Solutions business, a role in which he oversaw the company's largest product segment. The printing division was a major revenue and profit driver for HP Inc., and Lores was responsible for guiding its strategy, operations, and growth initiatives.

During this period, Lores was involved in strategic initiatives that shaped HP Inc.'s competitive position in the printing market. Among these was the acquisition of Samsung's printer business, a transaction that expanded HP's presence in the laser printer segment and broadened its intellectual property portfolio. The Samsung printer deal, which closed in 2017, was valued at approximately $1.05 billion and represented one of the most significant acquisitions in the printing industry.

Lores's leadership of the printing business also encompassed efforts to drive innovation in printing technologies, including the development of HP's 3D printing capabilities and the expansion of its commercial and industrial printing offerings.

CEO of HP Inc. (2019–2026)

On August 22, 2019, HP Inc.'s board of directors unanimously appointed Lores as the company's next President and CEO, succeeding Dion Weisler, who stepped down for family health reasons. Lores's appointment became effective on November 1, 2019.

Shortly after his appointment was announced, in October 2019, HP Inc. revealed a restructuring plan that included the elimination of between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs, representing approximately 16 percent of the company's workforce at the time. The restructuring was projected to generate approximately $1 billion in annual savings by the end of fiscal year 2022. The plan signaled Lores's intention to streamline operations and position the company for a period of transformation in the face of declining print volumes and shifting market dynamics in the PC industry.

As CEO, Lores pursued a strategy that emphasized several key pillars: portfolio expansion beyond HP's traditional hardware businesses, digital transformation of the company's products and services, and investment in talent development. Under his leadership, HP Inc. navigated significant industry challenges, including the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which initially drove a surge in demand for personal computers as remote work and distance learning became widespread, followed by a subsequent market correction as demand normalized.

Lores's tenure also saw HP Inc. confront evolving dynamics in the printing market, where the shift toward digital workflows and declining print volumes in certain segments required the company to adapt its business model. HP pursued growth in areas such as subscription-based printing services, industrial printing, and 3D printing technologies during this period.

During his time as CEO, Lores also served on HP Inc.'s board of directors and held positions on other boards. He joined the board of PayPal Holdings Inc. and eventually became chair of the PayPal board, a role that preceded his appointment as PayPal's CEO.

Lores's tenure as CEO of HP Inc. concluded in early 2026 when he departed to assume the top role at PayPal.

Appointment as CEO of PayPal (2026)

On February 3, 2026, PayPal Holdings Inc. announced that Lores had been appointed as the company's Chief Executive Officer and President, effective immediately, replacing Alex Chriss. Chriss had served as PayPal's CEO since September 2023 but was replaced after less than two and a half years in the role. Alongside the CEO appointment, PayPal named David W. Dorman as independent board chair.

The announcement described the leadership change as stemming from the PayPal board's assessment that new leadership was needed. Fortune reported that Chriss "lasted barely two years after failing to halt a massive slide in PayPal's share price." The Wall Street Journal reported that the CEO change coincided with PayPal flagging expectations of lower earnings for 2026.

Lores had been serving as chair of PayPal's board of directors prior to his appointment as CEO, giving him familiarity with the company's operations, strategy, and challenges. TechCrunch reported that PayPal hired Lores as its CEO and president to replace Chriss.

According to Semafor, the decision to appoint Lores as PayPal's CEO caught HP Inc.'s board by surprise, suggesting that the move was orchestrated primarily by the PayPal board without advance coordination with HP's leadership. Payments industry publication PaymentsDive also covered the appointment, noting the transition of leadership at one of the world's largest digital payments companies.

Following the announcement, PayPal's stock initially experienced volatility. Bloomberg News reported that shares fell after the CEO announcement coincided with a profit miss in the company's quarterly earnings report. However, in the weeks that followed, PayPal's stock recovered, trading up approximately 6.23 percent as markets responded to news of strategic business enhancements under the new leadership.

In an interview reported by Yahoo Finance, Lores discussed his reasons for leaving HP Inc. to take the PayPal role, describing the opportunity to lead a major digital payments company during a period of transformation in the financial technology sector.

Personal Life

Lores was born in Madrid, Spain, and holds both Spanish and American nationality. Details about his personal life, including information about his family, are not extensively documented in public sources. Lores relocated to the United States during his career at Hewlett-Packard, as the company's operations are headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and later in the broader San Francisco Bay Area. He has maintained a relatively private personal profile throughout his career in corporate leadership.

Recognition

Lores's career trajectory from engineering intern to CEO of HP Inc., one of the world's largest personal computing and printing technology companies, has been noted in business media coverage. His appointment as HP's CEO in 2019 drew attention as a marker of the company's continued evolution following the 2015 corporate split, and his subsequent appointment as CEO of PayPal in 2026 was covered extensively by major financial and technology news outlets including Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, TechCrunch, and Yahoo Finance.

Lores has been recognized for his role in leading HP Inc. through a period of significant market transformation and for his involvement in key strategic initiatives such as the Hewlett-Packard separation and the Samsung printer business acquisition. His membership on the board of The Conference Board, a global business research organization, has also been noted.

Forbes profiled Lores upon his appointment as HP Inc.'s CEO in 2019, highlighting his three-decade career at the company and the challenges he faced in taking the helm during a period of workforce restructuring and market shifts in the printing industry. CRN included Lores in its coverage of HP leadership transitions, noting his broad experience across multiple business units and his role in the 2015 corporate separation.

Legacy

Lores's career represents a trajectory spanning more than three decades in the global technology industry. His rise from an engineering intern at Hewlett-Packard in 1989 to the role of President and CEO of HP Inc. is documented as one of the longer internal leadership journeys in the company's history. His involvement in the 2015 separation of Hewlett-Packard into two independent companies was a defining chapter in the history of one of Silicon Valley's foundational technology firms, and his leadership of the Separation Management Office placed him at the center of one of the largest corporate reorganizations in the technology sector.

As CEO of HP Inc. from 2019 to 2026, Lores led the company through a period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, shifts in global supply chains, and evolving demand patterns in the personal computing and printing markets. The restructuring plan announced at the outset of his tenure, which included the reduction of up to 9,000 positions, was part of a broader effort to adapt the company's cost structure and business model to changing market conditions.

Lores's transition from HP Inc. to PayPal in 2026 marked one of the more notable cross-industry CEO moves in recent corporate history, taking him from a hardware and printing technology company to one of the world's largest digital payments platforms. The appointment reflected the PayPal board's decision to seek leadership with deep operational and strategic experience from outside the financial technology sector.

His career has also been noted as an example of a European-born executive who built a career in American corporate leadership, having begun in Spain and risen to lead major U.S.-headquartered global companies.