When Meg Whitman steps down from her post as eBay chief executive at the end of the month, another prominent position awaits her: co-chair of John McCain's presidential campaign.
Meg Whitman
(Credit: eBay)The presumed Republican nominee said Friday that he has asked Whitman to play a "lead role" in the campaign, helping to lead fund-raising, traveling the country on McCain's behalf, and assisting with policy development.
Whitman said in a statement that she was "honored" to be selected.
The Arizona senator's "unshakable commitment to lower taxes, strong trade, and innovation sets the right course for America's economy and future prosperity," she said. "I'm enormously excited to be a part of his team and believe in his vision for our country."
Whitman joined eBay in March 1998, witnessing its rise from a start-up to an international cult sensation, along with its more recent slowed growth due to competition from Amazon.com and others.
Involvement with the McCain campaign isn't her first foray into the 2008 presidential race. When former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was still a contender, she helped to manage his fund-raising activities.
Whitman has also been a generous Republican Party donor for years, cutting checks to a variety of congressional campaigns and committees. According to campaign finance records compiled by the organization Opensecrets.org, she gave $25,000 last November to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The California-based executive apparently hasn't ruled out political ambitions of her own, either. She's reportedly flirting with the possibility of running for governor of her home state in 2010.
Updated at 3:20 p.m. PST with more background, analyst comment.
Meg Whitman is stepping down as chief executive of eBay after a decade, allowing a trusted insider to respond to slowed growth at the online auction pioneer.
Whitman has long said that every CEO should step down after 10 years to seek new professional challenges and make room for fresh leadership. Following her own edict, she will step down March 31 while remaining on the board.
"It's time for eBay, and this community, to have a new leadership team, a new perspective, and a new vision," she wrote on the company blog. A report that she would step down appeared Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal.
Meg Whitman
(Credit: eBay)Replacing her is John Donahoe, head of eBay Marketplaces, whom Whitman recruited in 2005. Donahoe is well-respected by investors and board members, analysts said.
Whitman joined eBay in March 1998 and successfully navigated it through the dot-com boom and bust and on to near cult-like popularity with what was known as the "eBay economy." Through eBay, anyone with an Internet connection could find obscure collectibles or turn their dusty garage treasures into cash.
Now, the company faces growing competition from Amazon.com along with what one analyst calls "buyer fatigue" following years of revenue leaps.
"Whitman wasn't as innovative as her counterparts at Amazon and elsewhere...They definitely need a bit of a change of direction," said Aaron Kessler, an analyst at Piper Jaffray. "The biggest challenge is buyer activity. There's been buyer fatigue in the last year or so, with fewer people coming to the site and coming less often."
Sales are still growing, just not at the pace they once were. The company reported Wednesday that fourth-quarter profits rose 53 percent from a year earlier to $531 million, and revenue increased 27 percent to $2.18 billion.
However, the stock dropped about 6 percent in after-hours trading to $27.15 after eBay warned that revenue in the current quarter and for the full year would be below analyst estimates.
While auctions represent the majority of eBay's revenue, growth was led by other units, including PayPal, online ticketing site StubHub, Internet phone company Skype, classifieds, and advertising.
In an attempt to reverse the slowed growth, eBay has redesigned its auction site and cut some fees for listing items. Executives have hinted at further, more drastic changes to the company's listing and selling fees.
eBay took a write-down last year for its purchase of Skype, forcing it and others to reassess the value of the start-up.
Despite the concerns, the impact of Whitman's tenure should not to be overlooked, said Scott Devitt, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
"Meg Whitman was a phenomenal success running eBay for a decade," Devitt said. "She has overseen an 88-times increase in revenue and a more than 1300 percent return in stock since the IPO...What's happened is purely maturity and not necessarily bad business."
CNET News.com's Dawn Kawamoto contributed to this story.
Meg Whitman, chief executive of auction giant eBay, is planning to retire, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Whitman, 51, recently has been entrusting more of the day-to-day responsibilities to others and "is completing her succession planning, say people familiar with the matter," The Journal said. She has held the top post since 1998.
According to the newspaper's sources, the decision about her retirement could happen within a matter of weeks, but "the situation remains fluid." The report named John Donahoe, president of eBay's auction business unit, as the most likely person to succeed her. Donahoe, 47, has been with the company since 2005.
An eBay representative declined to comment, The Journal said. The San Jose, Calif., company announces fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday.
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