American Express announces leadership change at Enterprise Growth

American Express has promoted Neal Sample, currently Enterprise Growth’s chief information officer and chief marketing technologist, to president. He will report to American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault and will serve as a member of the company's operating committee.



Sample replaces Dan Schulman, formerly group president of Enterprise Growth, who has resigned his position to become CEO of eBay’s spun-off PayPal business.



As head of Enterprise Growth, Schulman built the team that launched Serve, American Express’ first digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment platform. He also developed the company’s pre-paid card business, including Bluebird, the checking and debit alternative that it offers with Walmart.



“Dan has provided great leadership to the group since its early days, building a strong foundation and an outstanding team that has drawn world-class talent from within the company, as well as from Silicon Valley and throughout the tech sector,” Chenault said in a letter to employees regarding the change in leadership.



Sample came from eBay to American Express in 2012 to lead technology development for Enterprise Growth. Since then, Chenault says he has been instrumental in shaping the company’s Serve software platform, driving Enterprise Growth’s transformation to the Agile development process, and advocating for a work environment that encourages innovation and prototyping of new payment applications, features, and products. Sample has also been a member of the technology executive team and has worked across the company on a number of technology initiatives.