David Marcus Leaves PayPal To Join Facebook; Will FB Messages Become Monetized?

David Marcus is leaving eBay's PayPal online payments service to become Facebook's head of messaging products, Business Insider reported Monday.

The former president of PayPal took to Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), naturally, to reveal his decision. He said he wants to focus on building products "because I feel that PayPal has never been in a better position to capitalize on its unique place in the market."

Marcus had been with the company, a subsidiary of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), since 2011, when it bought his startup Zong, and was promoted to president in 2012. A replacement for him has not yet been found. In the meantime, employees will answer to eBay President and CEO John Donahoe.

Recode.com pointed out Facebook might be interested in monetizing its messaging products. The social network says more than 12 billion messages are sent through it daily. Now, there’s speculation that users will be able to attach digital cash to Facebook messages.

Marcus revealed in his Facebook post his decision to join the social media platform came after he met with CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“Mark shared a compelling vision about Mobile Messaging," he wrote. "At first, I didn’t know whether another big company gig was a good thing for me, but Mark’s enthusiasm, and the unparalleled reach and consumer engagement of the Facebook platform ultimately won me over. So… yes. I’m excited to go to Facebook to lead Messaging Products. And I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty again attempting to build something new and meaningful at scale."

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