Enrique Lores, one of the most relevant Spanish executives in the global technology industry and CEO of HP for the last seven years, has announced his departure from the company to assume the presidency and executive direction of PayPal as of March 1, 2026. The 60-year-old from Madrid has been one of the most prominent Spanish figures at the head of an American technology multinationalleading a company with a presence in more than 180 countries and tens of thousands of employees.
The move marks the end of a nearly four-decade relationship with HP, where he began as an engineering intern in 1989. In his farewell message on LinkedIn, Lores wrote “Farewell, HP”thus closing a personal and professional chapter that took him from an engineering scholarship to the executive presidency of one of the most emblematic technology companies in the world. In his farewell he addresses the HP staff. More than colleagues or employees, he refers to the team as a family. He is grateful for the passion, talent and resilience of the thousands of people he has worked with.
He mentions that what he will miss most is not the work itself, but the people and the shared values that make the company unique. He confesses that having had the privilege of leading this iconic institution has been the greatest honor of his professional life. He is proud to leave a company that is stronger, more diverse and prepared for the future, but insists that the credit belongs to the team.
The departure of Enrique Lores from HP represents the closing of an era for Spanish technology on the global stage. At 60 years old, the Madrid executive leaves the helm of one of the largest technology multinationals in the world having piloted it through some of the industry’s most turbulent times: the pandemic, the post-COVID transformation of work and the dawn of the artificial intelligence revolution. His almost four-decade career at HP represents a milestone that is difficult to replicate in today’s competitive technological ecosystem, where management rotation is increasingly frequent and complete careers in a single company are practically a rarity.
Lores has always maintained a special relationship with Spain with annual visits such as the meeting with the distribution channel that the company celebrates at Christmas time.
A complete career at HP
Lores, 60 years old and born in Madrid, began his career at HP as an intern after graduating in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and obtaining an MBA from ESADE Business School. For 36 years, He visited practically all the departments of the multinational until reaching the highest executive responsibility in November 2019, replacing Dion Weisler. As CEO, Lores guided HP through its transformation, positioning the company as a leader in the Future of Work and evolving into an AI-powered technology company. Under his leadership, HP maintained its dominance in the printing and PC markets, diversified its business with HP Solutions, and invested significantly in AI-enabled solutions.
Lores had already been on PayPal’s board of directors for almost five years and had chaired the board since July 2024. His appointment as CEO follows a board assessment that concluded that PayPal’s pace of change and execution was not aligned with expectations, especially in an increasingly competitive payments market. In his welcome to the Lords, David W. Dorman, PayPal’s new independent chairman, highlighted that Lores is recognized as a visionary leader who prioritizes customer-centric innovation with demonstrable impact. PayPal seeks in the Spanish executive the ability to lead complex transformations and disciplined execution on a global scale.
Transition at HP
Bruce Broussard, HP board member since 2021, named interim CEO with immediate effect. Broussard, with more than 30 years of corporate leadership experience and former CEO of Humana, will lead the company as the board searches for a permanent successor with the help of a global executive search firm. HP reaffirmed its financial projections for the first quarter and fiscal 2026, expecting non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of between $0.73 and $0.81 for the first quarter, and between $2.90 and $3.20 for the full fiscal year. The company anticipates generating free cash flow of between $2.8 billion and $3 billion for the full year.
Chip Bergh, chairman of the board of HP, thanked Lords for his contributions over more than three decades and his leadership for seven years as CEO, noting that he “has guided HP through its recent transformation and helped position the company to lead the Future of Work.” In his farewell remarks, Lores said he came to HP as an intern nearly four decades ago and called his journey “an incredible journey,” adding that “it has been an honor to lead HP through its evolution into an AI-powered technology company.”
The departure of Lords represents a significant change in the leadership of two American technology giantsand marks the beginning of a new chapter for both HP and PayPal at a time of profound transformation driven by artificial intelligence and the accelerated evolution of the technology industry.
