Today eBay and PayPal truly begin life apart and both will trade independently on the Nasdaq stock exchange for the first time since eBay Inc. acquired PayPal in July 2002.
And to mark the occasion, PayPal returns to the market at 8am EST and they’re ringing the opening bell that notifies the start of trading today. It’s a publicity based tradition: ringing the opening bell counts.
PayPal is going to town to celebrate its return as an independent company under its old PYPL moniker. PayPal’s CEO Dan Schulman will do the honours. As the Nasdaq notes there will be other events: “In addition, from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET, PayPal will celebrate its new status as an independent public company trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market with visitors to New York City’s Times Square by offering activities and giving away coffee and donuts from PayPal-branded food trucks. All visitors are welcome to join in the celebration and get the opportunity to see their faces on the big screen outside Nasdaq’s iconic headquarters in Times Square.”
And to end the day’s trading eBay will ring the closing bell remotely from its San Jose HQ in California. Devin Wenig will ring the bell, according to Nasdaq. There’s no news of any similar festivities from eBay though. No donuts.
The Nasdaq opens at 1pm BST. As the day progresses we’ll get a sense of how the two separate companies are performing on the stock market.
This article, As eBay says goodbye to PayPal, challenges loom, provides a useful expert view on how things might pan out.
