Name: Michael Miebach
Net worth: $37 million Executive pay: $17 million
Company: Mastercard
Bio: Mastercard traces its roots back to the late 1940s, when a number of American banks provided their clients with specially-issued paper that functioned as cash at nearby stores. Throughout the following ten years, various franchises emerged, with a single bank in a prominent city accepting cards as payment at select merchants. The Interbank Card Association (ICA) was established in 1966 by one of these groups, eventually transforming into MasterCard International.
Michael Miebach is chief executive officer of Mastercard and a member of its board of directors.
He is leading the company into a more digital world where Mastercard powers economies and empowers people by harnessing innovation and the continued application of new technologies. The company is helping to shape the future of seamless commerce, while bolstering cyber services and data-powered insights.
For much of the past decade, Michael was critical to setting the strategy that transformed the company’s offerings from a consumer card-centric business to a platform supporting choice in how businesses, people and governments make payments. This strategy helped Mastercard diversify into new areas including real-time payments, open banking, digital identity and other value-added services.
His collaborative approach creates scalable and trusted solutions for the exchange of payments and data. Upon joining Mastercard in 2010, he helped shape the company’s financial inclusion efforts to deliver a commercially sustainable social impact.
Quote: "Building products starts with empathy. Simple as that. Don’t build something that’s looking for a problem to solve – it has to be the other way around."
