eBay's Meg Whitman Makes it Official; Stepping Down March 31

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 25, 2008 - 9:15am.

San Jose, Calif. - Days after reports surfaced that she would retire, Meg Whitman, the president and CEO of eBay (NASD: EBAY), made it official, saying that she plans to step down on March 31. She will be replaced by John Donahoe, who joined eBay in 2005 following six years as the worldwide managing director of Bain & Company.

Whitman, who joined eBay in 1998, when it had just 30 employees, will remain on the company's board of directors.

San Jose, Calif.-based eBay now has more than 15,000 employees and nearly $7.7 billion in annual revenue.

"With humor, smarts and unflappable determination, Meg took a small, barely known online auction site and helped it become an integral part of our lives," said Pierre Omidyar, the company's founder and chairman.

Donahoe currently serves as the president of eBay Marketplaces, which accounts for more than 70% of the company's revenue.

In addition, eBay announced that Rajiv Dutta, currently the president of PayPal, has been named executive vice president of eBay, and will also replace Donahoe as the president of eBay Marketplaces.

Scott Thompson, PayPal's current CTO, will replace Dutta.