BNP Paribas vs Twilio: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: BNP Paribas and Twilio side by side

1. 1848BNP Paribas

   Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris founded

   Created by decree in March 1848 to restart commercial credit after the February Revolution, with capital from private subscribers, the City of Paris and the State. It is the oldest root of the BNP side of the group.

2. 1860BNP Paribas

   First overseas branches in Shanghai and Calcutta

   The Comptoir opened branches in Shanghai and Calcutta, becoming the first French bank to build a branch network abroad from scratch, later adding Hong Kong, London, San Francisco and Sydney.

3. 1872BNP Paribas

   Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas formed

   The Banque de Paris, founded in 1869, merged on 27 January 1872 with Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim's Amsterdam-based Nederlandsche Credit- en Deposito Bank to create the investment bank later known as Paribas.

4. 1889BNP Paribas

   Comptoir rescued after the copper crash

   Losses on industrialist Eugène Secrétan's attempt to corner the copper market forced the Comptoir d'escompte de Paris into liquidation, backed by a 100-million-franc Banque de France advance. It was refounded in June 1889 as a deposit bank.

5. 1966BNP Paribas

   Banque Nationale de Paris created

   Finance minister Michel Debré merged the state-owned CNEP and Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie (BNCI) to form Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP).

6. 1982BNP Paribas

   Paribas nationalised

   The Mauroy government nationalised Paribas, which adopted its telegraph address, Paribas, as its brand that year.

7. 1987BNP Paribas

   Paribas privatised

   The Chirac government returned Paribas to private ownership in January 1987.

8. 1993BNP Paribas

   BNP privatised

   BNP was privatised in October 1993 under chairman Michel Pébereau.

9. 1999BNP Paribas

   Three-way takeover battle

   Société Générale bid for Paribas, and BNP answered with offers for both banks. BNP won control of Paribas but failed to take Société Générale.

10. 2000BNP Paribas

    BNP Paribas created

    The merger of BNP and Paribas was completed in May 2000, combining BNP's retail network with Paribas's investment banking.

11. 2001BNP Paribas

    Full ownership of BancWest

    BNP Paribas agreed to buy the 55% of BancWest, parent of Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank, that it did not already own for about $2.45 billion. The Federal Reserve approved the deal on 4 December 2001.

12. 2006BNP Paribas

    BNL acquired in Italy

    BNP Paribas bought Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, making Italy its second domestic retail market.

13. 2008Twilio

    Company Founded

    Jeff Lawson, Evan Cooke, and John Wolthuis founded Twilio and launched its first voice API for developers.

14. 2009BNP Paribas

    Fortis Bank acquired in Belgium

    In May 2009 BNP Paribas took control of Fortis Bank, now BNP Paribas Fortis, paying with new shares issued to the Belgian state and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It also bought 25% of AG Insurance for ~$1.55 billion (€1.375 billion).

15. 2010Twilio

    SMS API Launched

    Twilio added programmable SMS, which became its largest product line.

16. 2014BNP Paribas

    US sanctions guilty plea

    BNP Paribas pleaded guilty in New York and agreed to pay about $8.9 billion for processing dollar transactions for Sudan, Iran and Cuba in breach of US sanctions.

17. 2015Twilio

    Authy Acquired

    Twilio acquired the two-factor authentication company Authy in 2015.

18. 2016Twilio

    NYSE IPO

    Twilio listed on the NYSE under the ticker TWLO in June 2016, pricing shares at $15.

19. 2019Twilio

    SendGrid Acquisition

    Twilio completed its all-stock acquisition of email platform SendGrid, announced at about $2 billion.

20. 2020Twilio

    Segment Acquisition

    Twilio acquired customer data platform Segment for about $3.2 billion, its largest deal.

21. 2021Twilio

    Revenue Passes $2.8 Billion

    Twilio reported FY2021 revenue of $2.842 billion, up 61% year over year, with a net loss of $949.9 million.

22. 2023BNP Paribas

    Bank of the West sold to BMO

    BNP Paribas completed the $16.3 billion cash sale of Bank of the West to BMO Financial Group on 1 February 2023, leaving US retail banking.

23. 2023Twilio

    Restructuring

    Twilio cut about 17% of its workforce in February 2023 and made further reductions later in the year as it shifted toward profitability.

24. 2024Twilio

    CEO Transition

    Co-founder Jeff Lawson stepped down as CEO in January 2024 and Khozema Shipchandler succeeded him.

25. 2025BNP Paribas

    AXA Investment Managers acquired

    BNP Paribas Cardif completed the ~$5.76 billion (€5.1 billion) purchase of AXA IM on 1 July 2025 and signed a long-term partnership to manage a large part of AXA's assets.

26. 2025BNP Paribas

    Sudan jury verdict

    A Manhattan federal jury found BNP Paribas liable to three Sudanese refugees in October 2025 and awarded $20.75 million. The bank is appealing.

27. 2025Twilio

    First Full-Year GAAP Profit and Stytch Deal

    Twilio reported FY2025 revenue of $5.067 billion and net income of $33.8 million, and completed its acquisition of identity platform Stytch on November 14, 2025.

28. 2026BNP Paribas

    Ageas partnership reset

    On 28 April 2026 BNP Paribas Fortis sold its 25% of AG Insurance to Ageas for ~$2.15 billion (€1.9 billion) and renewed their Belgian bancassurance partnership, while Cardif raised its Ageas stake to 22.5%.

29. 2026BNP Paribas

    Arval completes Athlon purchase

    Arval completed its purchase of Athlon from Mercedes-Benz Group on 31 July 2026, reaching a combined fleet of 2.3 million vehicles.

30. 2026Twilio

    Growth Re-accelerates

    Twilio reported Q2 2026 revenue of $1.50 billion, up 22%, and raised its 2026 revenue growth outlook to 18%-18.5%.

Acquisitions

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