Nick Molnar, the co-founder of buy now, pay later company Afterpay, plans to leave the business and its U.S. owner, Block Inc., at the end of 2026. Molnar announced the decision in a LinkedIn post on Saturday, Nov. 14.
Molnar said he wants to spend more time with his family. His departure will end his formal role at a company he helped create and expand from its launch in 2014. Afterpay allows consumers to divide some purchases into scheduled installments, making its ownership and leadership relevant to the U.S. consumer-credit market.
“I'll wrap up at the end of the year and then my only plans are to be around so much my family doesn't know what to do with me!”
From Australian startup to Block business
Molnar founded Afterpay with Anthony Eisen in 2014. The company grew into an international buy now, pay later provider before Block agreed in 2021 to acquire it for $29 billion. Block is a U.S. payments and financial-technology company led by Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter.
After the acquisition, Afterpay became part of Block’s broader payments and financial-services operations. Block has since placed greater emphasis on artificial intelligence, according to the company’s public direction described in the announcement. Job cuts announced by Dorsey in February were reported to include positions connected to Afterpay.
| Development | Reported detail |
|---|---|
| Afterpay founded | 2014 |
| Block acquisition agreement | 2021; $29 billion |
| Molnar’s planned departure | End of 2026 |
What Molnar said about the company’s roots
Molnar also used the announcement to reflect on Afterpay’s Australian origins. He said he was proud of the company’s role in bringing Australian technology to international markets and expressed confidence in other entrepreneurs in the country’s technology sector.
“I'm incredibly proud of the work we've done to help export Australian technology.”
He added that he hoped more Australian companies would reach global markets. The announcement did not identify a successor or describe changes to Afterpay’s consumer products, installment terms or U.S. operations.
Molnar’s exit is a leadership change rather than a new consumer-credit rule or a change to the legal framework governing buy now, pay later products. The immediate information available is that he intends to remain with Afterpay and Block through the end of the year, after which he plans to step away from both organizations.
