--- title: "Block loses Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar at year-end as lending losses rose 65.6% to $602 million" description: "The man who sold Afterpay to Block for $29 billion in stock at the top of the BNPL cycle steps away to focus on family, and his co-founder sold $8.9 million of XYZ the same month. The lending engine Block bought now grows on borrowed money while its banking base sits flat." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Economy" published: 2026-11-14T17:22:17.289Z modified: 2026-11-14T17:22:17.289Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/block-loses-afterpay-co-founder-nick-molnar-at-year-end-as-lending-losses-rose-65-6-to-602-million language: en keywords: "Block, Afterpay, Cash App, Buy Now Pay Later, Fintech" --- # Block loses Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar at year-end as lending losses rose 65.6% to $602 million > The man who sold Afterpay to Block for $29 billion in stock at the top of the BNPL cycle steps away to focus on family, and his co-founder sold $8.9 million of XYZ the same month. The lending engine Block bought now grows on borrowed money while its banking base sits flat. Nick Molnar built Afterpay out of a Sydney home and sold it to [Block](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/block) at the top of the buy-now-pay-later cycle. On Friday he said in a LinkedIn post that he will wrap up at Block at the end of the year, citing family [1][2]. He co-founded Afterpay with Anthony Eisen in 2014, when Molnar was a Sydney jewelry salesman and Eisen his neighbor and a former chief investment officer at Guinness Peat Group [3]. Block, then called Square, agreed in August 2021 to pay A$39 billion, about US$29 billion, in stock, after Afterpay's shares had run from A$9 to A$160 during the pandemic, and closed the deal in January 2022 [3]. Molnar rose to Block's head of sales in 2024 [3]. Eisen, now a Block director, [sold 100,000 Class A shares at $89.00 on November 9](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1512673/000162828026073476/0001628280-26-073476-index.htm), $8.9 million, under a 10b5-1 plan adopted on March 2, and held 1,077,672 shares afterward, roughly $96 million at the sale price [4]. The plan predates Molnar's announcement, so the sale is a scheduled trim of about 8.5% of the stake, not a reaction to it [4]. Still, the month leaves one founder walking out and the other lightening up. ## The lending engine now outruns its users Cash App counted 9.4 million primary banking actives in September, unchanged from June [5], though up 13% year over year [6]. The growth is coming from borrowing: consumer lending originations jumped 40% to $19 billion, driven by Cash App Borrow and Afterpay Post-Purchase [6]. Transaction, loan and consumer receivable losses rose 65.6% to $602 million [6], and [Chime](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/chime), the neobank, likewise [reported higher third-quarter losses as first-time Prime members borrowed](https://www.pymnts.com/alternative-credit/2026/chime-affirm-show-trade-offs-behind-credit-growth/) [5]. Block raised its legal reserve for a possible [Department of Justice settlement](https://theinference.org/article/block-s-cash-app-deal-with-doj-is-expected-to-cost-764-million-as-lending-losses-jump-65-6) to $526 million in August, with talks ongoing [7]; the FTC questions over 1,500 frozen Square accounts, covered by [The Inference on November 11](https://theinference.org/article/block-agrees-to-answer-ftc-questions-on-1-500-frozen-square-accounts-by-year-end), sit alongside. *Chart: **Q3 credit losses grew faster than anything at Block** Bar chart of Block's third-quarter 2026 year-over-year growth rates: loan and receivable losses 65.6%, consumer lending originations 40%, gross profit 21.6%, primary banking actives 13%, monthly transacting actives 4%.* *Year-over-year change in Block's third quarter of 2026, in percent: transaction, loan and consumer receivable losses, consumer lending originations, gross profit, primary banking actives and monthly transacting actives. Figures from Block's third-quarter results [6]. [6]* ## The quarter was strong anyway Gross profit climbed 21.6% to $3.24 billion, adjusted operating margin hit a record 29% of gross profit, and management [raised the full-year gross profit outlook to $12.626 billion](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/blocks-q3-earnings-beat-estimates-152500708.html) [6]. Rival [Affirm](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/affirm) expects to test installment loans on other issuers' debit cards in the first half of 2027 [5], aiming at the same wallet. *Chart: **Gross profit growth has reaccelerated past 20%** Line chart of Block's quarterly gross profit from Q4 2023 to Q3 2026, rising from $2.03 billion to $3.24 billion, with an annotation at Q3 2026 marking Molnar's exit announcement.* *Block's quarterly gross profit, in billions of dollars, from the fourth quarter of 2023 through the third quarter of 2026, with the quarter Molnar announced his departure marked. Figures from the company's quarterly SEC filings [8]. [8]* ## No successor has been named Neither the announcements nor the press reports name who takes over Molnar's duties [1][2]. Holders of XYZ can watch three things: the fourth-quarter gross profit print against the $3.315 billion guide [6], the DOJ settlement talks [7], and Eisen's next Form 4 [4]. ## Takeaway Block's lending originations grew 40% while its banking base stood still, and the Afterpay founder who built that engine leaves at year-end. ## Sources 1. [Charlotte Wishart and Jonathan Shapiro, Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar to leave Block, Australian Financial Review, 14 November 2026](https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/afterpay-co-founder-nick-molnar-to-leave-block-20261114-p61e4h) 2. [Matthew Brockett, Afterpay Co-Founder Molnar to Leave Dorsey's Block at Year-End, Bloomberg, 13 November 2026](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-14/afterpay-co-founder-molnar-to-leave-dorsey-s-block-at-year-end) 3. [Afterpay, Wikipedia, retrieved 14 November 2026](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterpay) 4. [SEC Form 4, Block, Inc., Anthony Mathew Eisen, filed 12 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1512673/000162828026073476/0001628280-26-073476-index.htm) 5. [PYMNTS, Chime and Affirm Show the Trade-Offs Behind Credit Growth, 11 November 2026](https://www.pymnts.com/alternative-credit/2026/chime-affirm-show-trade-offs-behind-credit-growth/) 6. [Zacks Equity Research via Yahoo Finance, Block's Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Cash App Lending & Square Growth, 4 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/blocks-q3-earnings-beat-estimates-152500708.html) 7. [Omar Faridi, Jack Dorsey's Block ($XYZ) Aims To Make Cash App The Main Bank For Gig Workers And Crypto Users, Crowdfund Insider, 3 November 2026](https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2026/11/321017-jack-dorseys-block-xyz-aims-to-make-cash-app-the-main-bank-for-gig-workers-and-crypto-users/) 8. [Block quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 14 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001512673) --- Block loses Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar at year-end as lending losses rose 65.6% to $602 million — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/block-loses-afterpay-co-founder-nick-molnar-at-year-end-as-lending-losses-rose-65-6-to-602-million