American Express Announces New President of U.S. Consumer Services Business

NEW YORK - American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) today announced that Josh Silverman will join American Express in early July as President of the U.S. Consumer Services business, the unit that provides the company’s consumer cards and travel services in the U.S.

Silverman was most recently Executive in Residence at venture capital firm Greylock Ventures, whose portfolio includes Facebook, Pandora, Groupon, Linked In, One King’s Lane and Zipcar. Until mid 2010, he served as the CEO of Skype where he led the company’s revitalization as it prepared its spin-off from eBay, launched award-winning products and repositioned the brand around video-based internet calling. Among his accomplishments was helping the company add 300 million new customers – which translated into 300,000 new customers per day.

Prior to his tenure at Skype, Silverman was a senior executive at eBay from 2003-2008, where he initially led a number of acquisitions and expanded the company’s classified advertising businesses in Europe, building a leading position there within one year. He then became CEO of eBay’s Shopping.com site, the sixth largest e-commerce destination in the U.S. and a leader in the U.K., France, Germany and Australia. One of Silverman’s first entrepreneurial ventures was as CEO and co-founder of Evite, the leading social event planning site which helps send more than 16 million invitations to more than 450,000 events each month. He ran that company until it was sold to IAC in 2001.

“In Josh we have found an executive with a track record as both a visionary entrepreneur and an effective leader for amazing growth companies,” said Ed Gilligan, vice chairman, American Express. “This, combined with his consumer experience and digital marketing expertise, makes him an ideal fit for American Express as we think about the current and future opportunities for our company.”

“I am thrilled to be joining American Express at a time of such significant transformation in the payments industry,” said Silverman. “I believe American Express is not just a great brand with an amazing leadership team – it is a company that is extraordinarily well-positioned to take advantage of the substantial changes that are taking place in the consumer and financial services marketplace. Just as important, I’ve been a Cardmember for 20 years and love the company’s products and services.”

About American Express
American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, twitter.com/americanexpress and youtube.com/americanexpress.