Anthony Eisen
Australian fintech entrepreneur who co-founded Afterpay with Nick Molnar in 2014, ran it as co-CEO through its $29 billion sale to Block, and now sits on Block's board while leading refunds startup Reshop.
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- Location
- Australia
- Country
- Australia
- Known for
- Co-founder of Afterpay; Block board member since February 2025
- Afterpay roles
- Co-founder (2014); CEO and Managing Director from July 2019; co-CEO from November 2020
- Post-acquisition role
- Block co-lead of Afterpay, January 2022 to November 2024
- Current roles
- CEO and chairman of Reshop since January 2025; Block director since February 2025
- Education
- Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance), UNSW Australia; member of Chartered Accountants Australia
- Before Afterpay
- Chief Investment Officer, Guinness Peat Group; investment banking (mergers and acquisitions)
Overview
Anthony Eisen is the Australian fintech entrepreneur who co-founded Afterpay with Nick Molnar in 2014, ran it as co-CEO through its US$29 billion sale to Block, and now sits on Block’s board of directors while leading refunds startup Reshop as its chief executive (Block, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement).
The pairing was complementary: Molnar was a young online-retail entrepreneur, Eisen his neighbour and a finance veteran, and together they aimed at millennials embracing a cashless lifestyle (AFP via TechXplore). Block’s later account dates the founding to November 2014 (Block, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement). By the time Square moved to buy the company, Afterpay served more than 16 million consumers and nearly 100,000 merchants (iTnews), and Block’s 2025 announcement put its reach at more than 400,000 merchants and 24 million customers (BusinessWire).
From investment banking to Afterpay
Eisen’s route into fintech ran through traditional finance. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Finance from UNSW Australia and is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia (Block, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement). Before Afterpay he worked in investment banking specialising in mergers and acquisitions, then became Chief Investment Officer at Guinness Peat Group, involved in financial-services, software and technology companies in which the group was a major shareholder (FX News Group).
Afterpay listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in May 2016 (Financial IT). Eisen joined its board on 5 July 2017 and became CEO and Managing Director on 1 July 2019 (FX News Group). In November 2020 the founders formalised shared leadership: Molnar became co-CEO alongside Eisen, both sharing strategy responsibility and measured on the same objectives — Molnar returning to the United States, Eisen remaining in Australia (FX News Group).
The product let shoppers pay for smaller purchases in regular instalments, with no interest or joining fee and low spending limits; merchants paid transaction costs of around 4% and were not exposed to non-payment risk, while shoppers who missed payments faced late fees of up to 25% of the purchase price, capped at A$68 per order for Australian users (AFP via TechXplore).
The Block acquisition and the road to the board
Square announced an all-stock deal for Afterpay in August 2021 with an implied value of approximately US$29 billion (A$39 billion) based on Square’s 30 July 2021 closing price, or 0.375 Square Class A shares per Afterpay share, a 30.6% premium; Afterpay’s board unanimously recommended it (iTnews). The deal was expected to close in the first quarter of calendar 2022 (iTnews).
Eisen did not leave with the sale: from January 2022 he served as Block’s co-lead of Afterpay until November 2024, then stayed on as a consultant aiding the transition of his duties until his election to Block’s board (Block, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement). He joined the board in February 2025 (Block, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement); Block’s head and chairman Jack Dorsey praised his work building a commerce ecosystem and his collaborative leadership (BusinessWire). Block’s proxy states he was selected for the board for his financial-services and fintech expertise, specifically in buy now, pay later, and as an Afterpay co-founder (Block, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement). He also serves on the board of the Technology Council of Australia (Block, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement).
His converted stake became visible in August 2026, when he sold 18,000 Block shares for about US$1.5 million under a pre-scheduled Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted in March 2026, leaving about 1.5 million shares directly held, valued at US$121.15 million — his stake is essentially the Afterpay business converted into Block stock (The Motley Fool).
Reshop: a second act on refunds
Eisen’s next company attacks the other end of the purchase. He was a founding investor in Reshop and served as its chairman from inception before becoming its chief executive — a role Block’s proxy dates to January 2025, announced alongside a US$17 million fundraise led by Matrix Partners, Sound Ventures, Woodson Capital and Touch Ventures (Financial IT; Block, Inc. 2025 Proxy Statement). Reshop gives shoppers instant refunds when they return items to participating retailers, usable through a virtual card at stores accepting Visa debit, instead of a wait of days or weeks (PYMNTS).
Eisen’s thesis is that returns are “the last white space of eCommerce”: about 20% of purchases in America get returned, and more than US$600 billion in returns annually is “just lost in the system”, benefiting neither consumer nor retailer (PYMNTS). The pitch targets Gen Z and millennial shoppers who pay by debit card, for whom a slow refund ties up their own money and creates purchase anxiety (PYMNTS). Early partner retailers included Alo Yoga, Steve Madden and Dolce Vita, and early adoption showed 1 in 2 customers making a repeat purchase, mostly within 24 hours (Financial IT).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not state a net worth for Eisen: published estimates vary widely by year and outlet and rest on rich-list citations not read in full for this profile. It does not give a single definitive deal value beyond the announcement-era US$29 billion / A$39 billion pair, since the final all-stock value moved with Block’s share price. It does not claim Eisen’s committee assignments on Block’s board, Reshop funding beyond the $17 million round, or any personal-life details — none of these were covered by the sources read in full for this profile, and the November 2014 founding month rests on Block’s proxy alone against the “2014” used elsewhere.
Timeline
- 2014
- Co-founds Afterpay with Nick Molnar in November 2014.
- 2016
- Afterpay lists on the Australian Securities Exchange in May 2016.
- 2017
- Appointed to Afterpay's board on 5 July 2017.
- 2019
- Appointed CEO and Managing Director of Afterpay on 1 July 2019.
- 2020
- Becomes co-CEO alongside Molnar, sharing strategy execution and measured on the same objectives, while remaining based in Australia.
- 2021
- Square announces an all-stock deal for Afterpay valued at approximately US$29 billion (A$39 billion).
- 2022
- The Block acquisition closes in January; Eisen serves as Block's co-lead of Afterpay.
- 2024
- Steps down as Block's co-lead of Afterpay in November and serves as a consultant through the transition of his duties.
- 2025
- Becomes CEO and chairman of Reshop in January and joins Block's board of directors in February.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Published net-worth estimates for Eisen vary widely by year and outlet and rest on rich-list citations not read in full for this profile, so no net-worth figure is stated.
- Eisen's committee assignments on Block's board, if any, are not stated in the sources read and are not claimed here.
- Reshop funding beyond the $17 million round reported at Eisen's CEO appointment is not verified here.
- Personal-life details (family, properties) are deliberately excluded — the sources read in full for this profile do not cover them.
Sources
8 sources (2 tier 1, 5 tier 2, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Built from sources fetched and read in full: Block's 2025 proxy statement (tier1) for the career spine, AFP (tier1) for the founding story and buy-now-pay-later model, iTnews and FX News Group (tier2) for deal terms and leadership dates, and PYMNTS and Financial IT (tier2) for Reshop. Wikipedia was used only as a lead index and is not cited. Block's own board announcement is first-party and is used for corroboration and attributed figures only.
- Supports: Career spine — November 2014 co-founding, co-CEO role, Block co-lead of Afterpay January 2022 to November 2024, consultant period, Reshop CEO and chairman since January 2025, board member since February 2025, Technology Council of Australia board, UNSW degree and Chartered Accountants membership, board-selection rationale Open original source
- Supports: Founding story (Eisen as Molnar's neighbour with a long finance career), BNPL model and fees, 2021 scale (16 million customers, almost 100,000 retailers), regulatory context Open original source
- Supports: All-stock deal terms (US$29 billion / A$39 billion, 0.375 Square shares per Afterpay share, 30.6% premium, Q1 2022 expected close), co-CEOs' statement, Cash App integration plan, 16 million consumers and nearly 100,000 merchants Open original source
- Supports: Board appointment 5 July 2017, CEO and Managing Director 1 July 2019, co-CEO arrangement and Australia/US geographic split, Guinness Peat Group CIO and M&A investment-banking background Open original source
- Supports: Reshop thesis in Eisen's words (returns as the last white space of eCommerce, ~20% return rate, $600 billion in annual US returns), Gen Z and millennial debit-card angle, instant-refund mechanics, $17 million funding Open original source
- Supports: Eisen as Reshop founding investor and chairman since inception, $17 million fundraise investors (Matrix Partners, Sound Ventures, Woodson Capital, Touch Ventures), ASX listing May 2016, early partner retailers and repeat-purchase data Open original source
- Supports: August 2026 sale of 18,000 Block shares under a Rule 10b5-1 plan and the remaining ~1.5 million-share stake (SEC Form 4 reporting); co-founder, co-CEO and February 2025 board shorthand Open original source
- Block Names Anthony Eisen, Co-Founder of Afterpay and CEO of Reshop, to Board of Directors First-partySupports: Corroboration only — February 2025 board appointment, co-CEO history, Reshop CEO and chairman roles, Technology Council board, Dorsey quote, and Block's attributed figure of 400,000+ merchants and 24 million+ customers Open original source
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