As president of eBay Marketplaces, Devin Wenig leads the eBay, classifieds and StubHub businesses globally. He will become CEO of the new eBay company when eBay and PayPal separate into independent publicly traded companies in 2015. As CEO of eBay, Devin will lead a new eBay Inc., consisting of the businesses that are today eBay Marketplaces and eBay Enterprises.
We know Devin Wenig and we like what he’s done with eBay. He was the driving force behind getting eBay marketplaces a separate identity (starting with the new eBay logo but more importantly taking the stance that he would do what was right for the marketplace regardless of what PayPal, eBay Inc or other companies in the eBay group felt was best for them).
Devin joined the company in September 2011 after more than 18 years at Thomson Reuters, the global media organization, where he served as CEO of its largest division, Thomson Reuters Markets, from April 2008 to August 2011. In that role, he led the global financial services and media businesses, which provide information, analytics and technology services to professionals in the financial services, media, and corporate markets globally, as well as to individuals through its consumer media arm.
Devin is amply qualified for the role of CEO, and it will make the eBay/PayPal split a clean break from current President and CEO John Donahoe, who up until now has been insistent that eBay and PayPal are better together.
Donahoe now says “eBay and PayPal will be sharper and stronger, and more focused and competitive as leading, standalone companies in their respective markets”, explaining that eBay’s board of directors has a practice of regularly reviewing the company’s growth strategies and structure, and assessing all alternatives. “As part of such assessments, the board regularly explores the following questions: Will separation make eBay and PayPal more competitive? Will separation be possible without distracting innovation and execution? And, will separation create sustainable value for shareholders over time?”
The conclusion is now that yes a split is the right thing to do.
To support Devin Wenig as the new eBay CEO, Scott Schenkel, currently the CFO of eBay Marketplaces will become the CFO of the new eBay company.
