- Mylene was right! Meg is retiring March 31st.
- John Donahoe is taking over. Fortune has interesting article on what to expect (FYI I wouldn’t go calling him Dennis the Menace if you’re ever in a one-on-one meeting – little advice there for you sellers out there).
- Meg staying on Board of Directors
- 2008 guidance was light, stock down 6-7% in AH trading
I have to say I’m a little nervous about JD’s focus being spread thin. Right now he’s 100% eBay marketplace focused – putting Skype and Paypal on his plate has to be dilutive. Even if it’s 10% of his time, that’s a decrease.
Meg and JD were just on CNBC – my notes:
- Meg – Why step down?
- CEOS in our industry with constant technology changes, need fresh set of eyes and new vision, turning eBay over to JD
- Staying on board, why not staying longer?
- Been here 10yrs, stay on board and provide input
- Meg, what’s next?
- Available to JD and company, take time off and rest, been thrilling 10yrs
- Why JD?
- Knows biz, learned biz, has great new perspective
- JD – what is your fresh perspective?
- eBay is a great co, created a foundation, leader in ecomm, comm and payments
- No doubt inet is changing rapidly, buyer and seller expectations are rising
- Focus is to build on the
- Easier and safer place to shop
- Increase focus on fixed-price biz along side auction biz
- Grow paypal
- Your outlook is light, did it reflect economy? Investors responding negatively
- JD – eBay offers a good value prop in good and bad times
- Our guidance has a plan with flexibility to improve eBay in 08 (smart IMO)
- What’s that mean? You spending more?
- JD – Yes we will be making changes to pricing (Fees!)
- Trust and safety
- customer support
- Make eBay safer and easier place to shop, allow Paypal to grow
- MW – We’ve setup a host of experiments to see how the ecosystem responds, feedback, pricing and product that go as planned.
- So you’re being conservative?
- JD – theme of 08 is focusing on users and customers
- Build loyalty
- MW – I haven’t let JD be conservative in last 12 months
- You are always one of the top female execs, did you think of female successor?
- Lots of women at eBay – said list I missed (Lorrie Northington, someone new to run USA? does that mean cobb is moving? Hold, let me research).
The conference call will start at 5pm, I suggest you give it a listen as this one is going to be somewhat historic.
