Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
eBay Chief Executive Quits
eBay has announced that its chief executive of ten years is to retire. Meg Whitman, 51, will pass the reigns to John Donahoe, who is currently responsible for the firm’s main auction business, when she retires on the 31st March.
News of Whitman’s retirement came as eBay announced a disappointing forecast for future earnings, which brought shares down by 5 per cent. These results contrasted dramatically with profits that the company posted for the three months to December, which jumped by 53 per cent to £271m. However, the site’s modest forecast is though to represent a reduction in the amount of merchandise listed for sale on eBay.
When Whitman joined eBay from Hasbro a decade ago, the business had just 30 employees and $4 million in revenue. However, Whitman has overseen the company’s transformation into a massive business with 11,000 members of staff and a variety of other businesses in its portfolio, including Skype and Paypal. Analysts have praised Whitman’s stint at the helm of the auction giant. Mary Meeker, of Morgan Stanley, told the businesswoman: "Thank you for building such a great business. It has been really inspiring to watch."
Although Whitman will remain a director at the company, she believes that it is the right time to retire. She said: "With the level of technological change, competitive dynamics, consumer change in our industry, sometimes you need… a new vision"
Whitman was born in Long Island and has an MBA from Harvard. She boasts a massive personal fortune of around $1.3 billion and was ranked by Fortune magazine last year as the third most powerful businesswoman in the world.
With Whitman out of the picture, people are curious to see what direction Donahoe will take the company in. He has already revealed plans to maximise fixed-price listings on the site, which will make the website more like Amazon and other retail sites. He also plans to cut listing costs, which will encourage more people to sell their goods on the site.
Source:
Guardian
BBC
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