And now. Right about the time her hand-picked COO, Maynard Webb, retires this August, Meg will turn 50. She has already been at this CEO job for eight years (equal, it should be noted, with her longest tenure ever at a job up until now), rebuffing the opportunity to be CEO of Disney and (one would imagine) any number of less-well-publicized overtures.
When I saw the news about Maynard's retirement, I thought, boy Meg has been at this job forever. And, hasn't she about done all she set out to do? And naturally, the next thing I wondered was, how long until Meg hands in her resignation? I predict it won't be long.
Meg Whitman has really accomplished a lot at eBay, and 10 years is a long time as CEO of anything. Surely she must be
experiencing the itch to get out and change something at a more nimble organization; or, on the other hand, move
"up" in the world to a company whose market cap is even bigger than that of her own company.
Meg is a packaged goods girl; she cut her teeth at companies like Proctor & Gamble, Walt Disney, FTD. Maybe she'd like to go back to a company that makes things instead of shaving bits off of millions upon millions of tiny transactions. Or maybe, retire to academic life; she's very committed to Princeton University, her alma mater (she's given many millions to the school), and her sons are about college-aged. She's hardly been able to spend a lot of quality time with them as she climbed the corporate ladder during their childhood. Maybe it's time for a change?
Average CEO tenure is about 9.8 years, and I can't help but looking at Meg's accomplishments and thinking, isn't her time about up? If I was a betting woman, I'd be calling my bookie laying odds that eBay would have a new CEO by 2008.
How about you?
[Dislaimer: I own a few shares of eBay and hope that Meg lives forever, just like Warren Buffett. You can read more about me here.]
Meg is a packaged goods girl; she cut her teeth at companies like Proctor & Gamble, Walt Disney, FTD. Maybe she'd like to go back to a company that makes things instead of shaving bits off of millions upon millions of tiny transactions. Or maybe, retire to academic life; she's very committed to Princeton University, her alma mater (she's given many millions to the school), and her sons are about college-aged. She's hardly been able to spend a lot of quality time with them as she climbed the corporate ladder during their childhood. Maybe it's time for a change?
Average CEO tenure is about 9.8 years, and I can't help but looking at Meg's accomplishments and thinking, isn't her time about up? If I was a betting woman, I'd be calling my bookie laying odds that eBay would have a new CEO by 2008.
How about you?
[Dislaimer: I own a few shares of eBay and hope that Meg lives forever, just like Warren Buffett. You can read more about me here.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-03-2006 @ 3:28PM
Dale said...
I use to have a store at eBay imo they have gone down hill big time especially with raising the fees.They make most their money from new people signing up that don't know any better.By the way it gets less traffic but Yahoo auctions are free so no fees when you sell or keep reposting items.
5-04-2006 @ 2:52PM
Martin said...
Meg is a wonderful woman. She is intelligent but you do not see her out there talking in jibberish to boost stock prices. The company's aquisition of Skype combined with the recent introduction of the Paypal Mobile service position this company well for the future with Meg at the helm. I hope she stays on. She is a refreshing change from the usual knucklehead that runs a company and receives rewards for slashing jobs or hyping non-events.
She withdrew her Disney offer for a reason. Ebay had more potential as a company to lead to the future of commerce.
5-05-2006 @ 11:37AM
Tracy Riggs said...
I am glad to hear good news about eBay. About time! All we've heard these past years is how good Meg Whitman has been at the helm of this company. ( Past tense) Lets hope her vision for the future gets results in shareholder appreciation. Somewhere down the road they will need to Blow Analysts away with nice suprise earnings:) Lets see what Meg and company can do from now on. I would like to see them pull a rabbit out of a hat! Share price at $100.00 would be nice :)