Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar to exit Block amid AI restructuring

Nick Molnar, co-founder of Australian buy-now, pay-later provider Afterpay, will resign from the company and its U.S. parent Block (NYSE) by the end of 2026. In a LinkedIn post, Molnar cited a desire to spend more time with his family as the reason for his departure after more than a decade building Afterpay into an international payments business.

Molnar co-founded Afterpay with Anthony Eisen in 2014, establishing the company as a major player in the buy-now, pay-later industry. Afterpay's installment financing model enables consumers to divide purchases into manageable payments, providing retailers with an alternative payment option and intensifying competition with traditional credit products.

Block, led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, acquired Afterpay in 2021 for approximately $29 billion, integrating the Australian business into its broader payments ecosystem. This acquisition marked a significant expansion of Block's consumer payments operations and enhanced its position in installment financing. Molnar's exit occurs as Block CEO Dorsey restructures the company's operations around artificial intelligence and workforce optimization.

In February, Block announced substantial job cuts, which reportedly impacted Afterpay employees, reflecting the company's broader shifts in focus and structure. Despite the restructuring, Molnar did not attribute his decision to leave to the changes at Block, expressing it as a personal choice centered around his family. While Molnar's departure signals a significant change for Afterpay, which grew from a startup into a globally recognized payments business, the company has not disclosed a replacement for Molnar or any alterations to Afterpay's leadership following the planned exit.