GC Influencers
Most Influential GCs - USA
Robert Pelkowski of PayPal
Rob Pelkowski has earned a reputation as one of the most experienced and skilled in-house lawyers in the payments market. Having begun his career at American Express focusing on prepaid and alternative payments, he moved to PayPal in 2016 to become an associate general counsel, a role which saw him serve as the head of legal for subsidiaries Venmo and, until last year, Braintree. His role sees him advise the company on a raft of regulatory and wider compliance issues associated with Venmo’s expansion and rollout of new products, with 2018 seeing the company issue its first contactless debit card and plans afoot to follow that up with a credit card option.
His ability to “understand business issues and counsel business clients in situations where the law isn’t clear” earns him the respect of legal insiders, who cite his ability to “counsel business teams through uncertainty” as a key asset. Pelkowski also receives plaudits for his stewardship of the legal department, being described as “a very good manager who is very supportive of the people who work for him.”