Whitman Departs eBay As It Becomes Less Relevant 8 comments
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It is not just Yahoo that is going through some rough times. After a decade at the helm, eBay CEO Meg Whitman is preparing to retire, reports the WSJ
(subscr. req.). John Donahue, the president of eBay Marketplace, who
was trotted out on a press tour about a month ago, is said to be the
front-runner to be the next CEO.
During most of Whitman’s tenure, eBay seemed unstoppable. But the network effects that made it so powerful in the Web 1.0 era began to dissipate as destination sites began to lose some of their appeal. Now that people want to bring the Web to them—to their blog or MySpace or Facebook page—eBay needs to adapt to the new realities
It is not for lack of trying (see the bungled Skype acquisition). The old network effects still have a mighty pull, and generate a lot of money for eBay. Whitman maintained eBay’s dominant position in online auctions. But it just seems less and less relevant today.
Here is a ten-year stock chart. During the last two years, eBay has lost about half its value. Not a great note to leave on.
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This article has 8 comments:
The company had so much more potential. So I think tommorow I will do analysis of EBAY for you guys
Rob
WallastonInvestments.c...
Donahoe is directly responsible for ebay stock dropping like a rock because he still has no basic understanding of how the online marketplace works. His efforts to recreate ebay in his own image is directly responsible for both hundreds of thousands of buyers & sellers leaving - never to return.
Even this beachgal, an average ebay seller, would make a better CEO than Donahoe because their are certain universal concepts about the online marketplace that still escape Donahoe despite his 2 year tenure.
1. Keep the site simple.
2. Use keword searches.
3. NO offsite advertising that competes with sellers.
4. Hire top notch programmers.
5. Keep all equipment state of the art.
6. No guinea pig tests.
7. Never introduce any script into the site that hasn't been tested for all contingencies and is compatible for all users!
Yes, Donahoe has made all these mistakes and many more despite pleas from millions of buyers & sellers alike to STOP. If Donahoe's buyer experience experiment is working so well, why is he artificially inflating listing numbers by holding a "listing sale" nearly every month?
Half its price, anyway.
The it's a great time to get in for smart savvy investors who under the intrinsic value of business.
Investment 101 buy low sell high....not the other way
The site has lost all it's appeal and been eroding for almost four years now.
Glad Meg has finally woke up and hope Wall Street does too.
Another Enron in the making IMO.
How many of us can say that we lead a company with a PE of 227 and pocketed ONE BILLION DOLLARS PLUS PLUS?
Just a few of her cohorts could crow about such. Pierre, et al. grabbed a few billion each whilst EBAY put on auctions all over the USA and avoided paying and getting licensed as an auction. EBAY has jillions of stolen items regularly sold on it by thief/fauxctioneers.
EBAY sellers regularly devastate the local economies of the cities and states of America by avoiding paying sales taxes on items sold.
So in conclusion:
Take your loot and scoot. You did better, Ms Whitman, than Jesse James, Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde all rolled together.
Finally- buy EBAY stock. Why not?