By Owen Thomas, 7:15 PM on Sat Jan 26 2008, 1,557 views (Edit, to draft, Top, Slurp)

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Could retiring eBay CEO Meg Whitman run to be the next governor of California, as the Los Angeles Times speculated recently? Absolutely not, she told managers at the San Jose-based auction giant recently. But as that rumor was quashed, another one arose: That she's angling to be a Cabinet secretary in a future Mitt Romney presidency. Romney's campaign is still seen as a longshot. But the two share close ties. Whitman is Romney's finance cochair. And they both belong to a shadowy, secretive cult with vast, poorly understood powers — that is to say, they're both former management consultants.