Why Is PayPal's President Leaving to Join Facebook?

By Simon Erickson and Eric Bleeker – Jun 22, 2014 at 4:00PM

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Why would the head of what is essentially eBay's core business leave the company to run a single team for Facebook?

PayPal's president, David Marcus, is leaving to join Facebook's (META -2.67%) Messenger team, but he will not have control of the company's recent messaging acquisition, WhatsApp.

Considering PayPal is essentially eBay's (EBAY 1.85%) core business now, to leave it to run a single unit of Facebook is intriguing. Also, given Marcus' background, it hints that Facebook is making things like money transfers a key way of monetizing communication platforms. That's especially important, because at some point Facebook will need to justify its $19 billion WhatsApp price tag.

In this episode of The Next, Motley Fool tech analyst Eric Bleeker and Rule Breakers analyst Simon Erickson discuss what Marcus' move might mean for a future Facebook payments system.

Eric Bleeker, CFA, owns shares of Facebook. Simon Erickson owns shares of Apple and Facebook. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Apple, eBay, and Facebook. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.