Meg Tries to Convince Wall Street That eBay Isn't Totally Fucked

[mandy]

It takes a lot to anger the normally unruffled Meg Whitman, president and chief executive of eBay. Google managed it in May when it tried to hijack an eBay sellers’ conference. Ms Whitman says: “We thought it was a direct, competitive intrusion in our most important community event of the year.”

But whereas some Silicon Valley executives would have used the incident to sling as much mud as possible, – after all, Google is said to have tried to lure eBay’s customers to a rival payment system – that is not Ms Whitman’s style. Instead, she exudes a blend of serenity and steeliness. Traits displayed by her company’s subsequent decision to pull its $100 million (£50 million) advertising account with Google.

Ms Whitman may have to take a more animated stance – and look a lot meaner – in 2008 if eBay is to convince Wall Street that it is not just another dot-com business with a glorious future behind it...

full article: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/bu...123567.ece