Gawker
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politics
John McCain Lends Meg Whitman's Campaign His Vim and Vigor
Former eBay CEO and political neophyte Meg Whitman needs all the help she can get to win the Republican primary in the California governor's race. Surely an endorsement from losing GOP presidential candidate John McCain will give her a leg up on rival Republicans. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by theMoJo: She looks just like McCain in that photo, with a wig on. 3 Responses | Other threads
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twitterati
The Twitterati Get Run Over by a Google Street View Car
No one can escape Google's roving eyes — not even the Twitterati! Pierre Omidyar, Ryan Block, John Byrne, and others used Twitter to rid themselves of whatever scraps of private dignity remained: More » -
buybacks
How eBay Can Have $3 Billion in the Bank and Still Be Broke
Look at eBay's books and it wouldn't seem to have money problems. But it's running a garage, unloading would-be Digg competitor StumbleUpon, and hopes to sell Internet phone service Skype. Why? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by HeloiseKapis: Billions of their cash was also spent buying back stock trying to prop up the price (to no avail). Unloading StumbleUpon... 2 Responses | Other threads
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politics
Meg Whitman's Business Plan to Become California Governor Makes No Sense
In a Fortune interview, billionaire former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who hopes to be the next Republican governor of California, shows she has more money than sense, an excellent recipe for entering politics. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Tom Parker: See how much our US Cities, States, Country and households could save on taxes if Marijuana were decriminalized, then sign... 1 Responses | Other threads
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politics
Meg Whitman's Run for Governor Is About Jobs — Her Own
Gay-marriage-hating ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman is running for governor of California. First stop, the Today Show, where she talked about jobs, jobs, jobs. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by joefry: I hope she knows part of the job description requires being a robotic killing machine from the future. I heard Robocop... 2 Responses | Other threads
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meg whitman
Heavily Vaselined Ex-eBay CEO Running for California Governor
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who did not even register as a Republican until 2007, has officially declared her intent to run for governor of California. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Widget Economist: Who cares what she looks like? Yes, faces have had better days. And she does in fact douse her face... 4 Responses | Other threads
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politics
Meg Whitman Now More Retired from eBay Than Ever
The famously frumpy former CEO of eBay, Meg Whitman, is veering closer to entering California's governor 2010 race, quitting the boards of Procter & Gamble, eBay, and Dreamworks Animation SKG.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Pinekatz: Oh ick. I'll bet my last nickel she has no chance whatsoever of winning the governor's seat of California. But I... 2 Responses | Other threads
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Lip Dubs
Laid-off eBayers get goodbye video all wrong
When a tipster told me that workers at eBay France had created a lip-dub video, my hopes were high. But I should never have expected great things from eBay.
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By Owen ThomasComment by UniComp: If I were a dude working there, I'd be pissed that they laid off all those cute coworkers. 1 Responses | Other threads
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meltdowns
Facebook employee unloads company gear on eBay
Times are tough at what was Silicon Valley's hottest startup last year. So tough that one Facebooker is auctioning off a company-issued Jack Spade laptop bag.
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By Owen ThomasComment by ShashirekhaBabalon: No self-respecting hipster would be caught with a bag like that. Who the hell is Jack Spade anyway? ... 1 Responses | Other threads
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politics
Meg Whitman, homophobe
With her unofficial bid to be California's governor, Meg Whitman, the billionaire former CEO of eBay, is leaning hard to the right. Her support of a gay marriage ban could doom her campaign. -
meg whitman
Why eBay's star CEO isn't famous enough for politics
After making billions of dollars by changing the world, tech moguls start dreaming of ruling it. But the political career of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman seems stillborn. Why? She's just not a household name.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Saxon 212: ha she's nothing but an evil c**t because she put her mouth and her money into helping ban equal rights... 2 Responses | Other threads
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ebay
The pop-culture junk pile of 2008
When we overdose on celebrities and overindulge in gadgets, where's the vomitorium to hurl it up? Why, it's eBay, on whose shores the flotsam of every shipwrecked trend lands. Here's what was formerly hot in 2008:
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By Owen ThomasComment by Figaro: I don't have a clue who that blonde is. Oh, I'm so proud of myself :D 3 Responses | Other threads
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meltdowns
eBay traffic gradually falling
I could spend all day unspinning Henry Blodget's hyperbolic headlines. "eBay Traffic Plummeting" actually means "eBay traffic gradually declining." Unique visitors for October were off 10 percent from a year ago. That's a much smaller slip than the traffic at my local Starbucks. But still, yeah, we're all gonna die.
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By Paul BoutinComment by HymanHobbit: Ever since ebay raised their fees on pretty much whatever they wanted whenever they wanted I stopped selling everything there.... 1 Responses | Other threads
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stocks
Why founders win
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs like to talk about their hopes of "changing the world." Yes, of course: Changing the world from one in which they are poor to one in which they are fabulously wealthy. The question in the air is whether the founders of companies do a better job at creating wealth, for themselves and their investors, than professional managers. With Yahoo announcing Jerry Yang's plans to step down as CEO, it would seem like a losing time for founders. But Yang is an exceptional case; he took his hands off the steering wheel when Yahoo had a mere five employees, and never really ran anything until he stepped in as CEO last June. Most founders of successful startups eagerly seize power, and have to be forcibly dislodged from the driver's seat. The best never let go. Just take a long-term look at the stock market, and you'll see why. More » -
politics
Meg Whitman asks for her websites back
Tired of endless campaigns for higher office? Sorry! California's 2010 race for governor is right around the corner. Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman hasn't formally entered the race, but she's already busy making gaffes and working on her Web presence. Her reps are pursuing trademark claims against Thomas Hall, a domain-name squatter who registered whitmanforgovernor.com, meg2010.com, and others. Hall told the Sacramento Bee he felt strong-armed when contacted by Whitman's lawyers, and refused to sell. The Whitman camp is now spending $30,000 or more to recover the domain names through an arbitration process set up by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Any doubts she's running for governor? -
politics
Meg Whitman praises Virginia, trashes California
The nascent political career of ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman just took a knife to the gut — and it was an act of hara-kiri. Whitman, speaking at an event for the Northern Virginia Technology Council, said Virginia was a much better place to start a business than California: "If we were to be starting eBay again, would we choose California? Probably no." Whitman may have a point. But the long-rumored gubernatorial prospect also hasn't learned to speak in soundbites that can't be twisted to make it seem like the pro-business candidate hates the California business culture which made her rich.
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By Owen ThomasComment by CaliforniaCajun: "We"? Did I miss something, or was Meg brought in well after eBay was off the ground? I can see why... 3 Responses | Other threads
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the sum of all human knowledge
Why Jimmy Wales got booted from Wikia's top job
Why did Jimmy Wales, the cofounder of Wikipedia, an online compendium which includes the world's most detailed article on flim-flams, step down as CEO of Wikia, the for-profit website host which recently laid off some of its employees? The way Wales likes to tell the story, years later, he realized he was a free-flying entrepreneur, not an earthbound bureaucrat. So he hired Gil Penchina, a former eBay executive, to mind the shop. That's not what really happened. Wales was fired from his job as CEO by the company's investors. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by porterhouse125: This man is legend. He helped found the single most useful site on the Internet. And as a... 1 Responses | Other threads
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blogging for dollars
When bloggers blog bloggers, is the result blather — or better?
Did you know Netscape cofounder Marc Andreessen has joined eBay's board? Why yes, it's true — and it happened last month. VentureBeat editor Eric Eldon had gotten a belated tip about the hire, and published the story without checking the date. "I made a stupid mistake," he tells me. (He was more oblique in Twitter.) Eldon rapidly took the story down, but not before it was syndicated to The Industry Standard, where it caught the eye of Nicholas Carlson, my former charge at Valleywag who has landed at Silicon Alley Insider. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by eze: Well, I certainly deserved this spanking, Owen. Now I'm going to have to stay up all night stealing your scoops.... 3 Responses | Other threads
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Cash Is King
Are tech companies turning into banks?
When Wall Street fails, Silicon Valley must step up. So goes the hubristic thinking here. Debt greases the wheels of commerce, and the sale of servers and software is no exception. And that part of the credit industry has hit a rough patch, too, with defaults on equipment loans nearly doubling in the past year. As with other credit markets, this had made traditional lenders nervous. So cash-rich tech companies are venturing into lending themselves. IBM has long had an in-house lending arm, with $24.5 billion in loans outstanding. Cisco lent $4 billion to customers last year. Even eBay is getting into the game through Bill Me Later; it acquired $550 million in consumer loans in conjunction with the purchase of the payments startup. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by macbeach: It goes with high profit margins. Can't most Apple products be purchased with no money down and no interest?... 1 Responses | Other threads
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breakdowns
eBayers aghast over porny penis come-ons
An anonymous eBayer spoke out on the auction website's user forums recently, irate over seeing penis-enlargement ads on the eBay homepage. Within seconds, a horde of other outspoken eBayers chimed in with over 600 replies to share their shock and dismay of seeing the same penis-envy ads. One grandmother was extremely offended at having her little grandson wonder whether his manhood is up to par. But it turned out eBay wasn't actually at fault — malware on the computers of people seeing the ads had replaced eBay's G-rated come-ons with racier fare. Maybe those offended should just pick up some discounted antivirus software on eBay? That seems easier. Here's another malware-placed ad: More »
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Comment by trevo: I believe this is due to the Trojan called DNS Changer. Very smart and simple app. It just redirects your... more » | Other threads
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bill me later
Why isn't Amazon.com talking about its $150 million windfall?
Amazon.com got a big payday when eBay bought Bill Me Later, the payment service, for $945 million earlier this month. So why isn't it admitting it? In an SEC filing, Amazon.com didn't name Bill Me Later as the source of a $150 million cash payment it will receive in return for an investment. But it's obviously Bill Me Later, which Amazon.com invested in last December. Here's the curiously vague wording of Amazon's disclosure to shareholders, and three possible reasons for it. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by SheridanCotys: I heard that the lst round was valued at a 1bbl so Amazon lost $$$ . more » | Other threads
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great moments in pr
eBay to care about plight of elephants next year
Online auction house eBay is self-banning the sale of ivory and ivory products on its website — prompted after animal welfare groups investigated trading in animal products from endangered species. Elephant ivory were the most common and eBay is saying it will do its best to stop the thousands listings of animal goods but only after January of 2009. Because corporate goodwill still needs to wait after the earnings report. [Los Angeles Times]
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Comment by sample032: Guitar nuts are often ivory, so get that Gibson while it's still on eBay! more » | Other threads
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earnings
eBay would like you to forget about Skype now
You rarely see a photo of John Donahoe, eBay's Dennis-the-Menace lookalike CEO. But today's a good day to pull him out from under Meg Whitman's shadow. The auction deathstar's Q3 net income was $492.2 million, or 38 cents a share. Much better than last year, when chirpy little upstart Skype — a Whitman acquisition — forgot to destroy AT&T and instead cost the company a billion bucks. (Photo by AP/Ron Edmonds)
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By Paul BoutinComment by buzzzkilll: Looks less like Dennis the Menace and more like eBay's future ex-CEO to me. more » | Other threads
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politics
Meg Whitman explores run for California governor
A source embedded in the political world claims Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, has set up a committee to explore a run for governor of California in 2010. The Secretary of State's office doesn't list her as having filed a statement of intention yet, which is required before she can begin raising money for a run. The San Jose Mercury News recently reported that Whitman was looking to hire a political consulting firm in Sacramento. What really has us interested: The prospect of a race between Whitman, whose Internet new-money fortune is estimated at $1.3 billion, and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, whose family gets its funding from the city's old-line elite. The Hair versus The Sensible 'Do? We're as excited as Whitman's dog about this one.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Alaska Miller: Carly Fiorina should be governor. more » | Other threads
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meltdowns
Yahoo skids to $13, revises layoff plan
The last time YHOO traded below $13 was after 9/11 and before the U.S. invaded Iraq. (I live in San Francisco, where even Republicans obsess over these connections.) Henry Blodget, the disgraced stock analyst everyone trusts now, says Yahoo is scrambling to update its layoff plans after watching eBay go first: More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by HiQCode: Yahoo won't recover. The Sunnyvale teams have developed low quality software under inexperienced technology managers and their best engineers have... more » | Other threads
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commenter of the day
CaliforniaCajun
You know that scene in Fight Club where Ed Norton beats the crap out of himself to walk away with off-the-books pay severance and free flight vouchers? Those lazy eBay employees didn't even have to go through that much for their sweetheart deal. Yahoos, on the other hand, would count themselves lucky to get the chance. If living in California hasn't made your heart bleed liberal juice yet, read what CaliforniaCajun, today's featured commenter, says: More »
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Comment by igneous: people who work in the valley and don't save money are retards. They deserver to lose their shit if they... 2 Responses | Other threads
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caption contest
McCain and Whitman unveil Social Security plan
If you were just laid off from eBay, will there be a job for you in five months when your severance runs out? For answers, consult the eBay-branded slot machines now up and running in Las Vegas. Licensing the eBay name is no doubt lucrative, but it's a bizarre branding move, since eBay's moving away from its are-you-feeling-lucky auctions in favor of fixed-price sales. Can you come up with a better caption? Leave it in the comments. The best one will become the post's new headline. Yesterday's loser: Anyone who suggested "Ich bin ein Wiener." Yesterday's winner: godospoons, for "No, you can't use it to SuperPoke Poland." (Photo by waldoj)
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By Owen ThomasComment by TheChris2.0: McCain & Whitman unveil their new Social Security plan ***does anyone know what hotel(s) these are in? I may have to... 3 Responses | Other threads
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great moments in pr
eBay PR chief bullshits own staff on layoffs
Alan Marks, eBay's top flack, has a new buzzword for layoffs: "simplification." It's a simplification so simple that Marks had to send a 1,078-word memo explaining it. The bottom line: He cut 15 out of 105 people, or 14 percent of his staff worldwide, but he's hiring another 8 people into new positions. This makes me wonder: Is Marks so immersed in PR-speak that he's lost the ability to compose a blunt and honest communication? Or does Marks, an eBay novice who only joined the company in April from Nike, simply distrust his staff, and thus feel obliged to sanitize all of his internal emails in case they get leaked — as this one has? Read on: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Consignment Pal Resale Directory: I used to work at IBM in Human Resources Management. Never heard of "simplification." I'm guessing those dear... 1 Responses | Other threads
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we read twitter so you don't have to
eBay founder factchecks John McCain
Pierre Omidyar, the one-and-only founder of eBay, didn't much appreciate John McCain's tip of the hat in last night's debate to Meg Whitman, eBay's former CEO. "Meg Whitman was CEO of a company which started with 12 people," McCain said, which rather riled Omidyar. Omidyar started the company by himself in September 1995; Whitman joined in March 1998, when the company already had 30 employees.
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By Owen ThomasComment by joeinsider: Pierre was not, "the one-and-only founder of eBay" --Jeff Skoll was the Co-Founder (well, technically "First Employee and First President")... 3 Responses | Other threads
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layoffs
eBay's sweet, sweet layoff package
As Owen put it yesterday, why can't we get laid off by eBay? An insider gives us the rundown of exactly what's in his (or her) severance package, and who's rumored to be next. More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by Rock tha Hizzee: Marketing had ceased to be a function about three years ago, hence their current problems. That and WAY overpaying for... 1 Responses | Other threads
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politics
McCain gives Meg Whitman, eBay debate shoutouts
Asked about possible candidates to serve as his Treasury secretary, John McCain said in Tuesday's presidential-candidate debate that Meg Whitman was a top candidate. His running mate, Sarah Palin, loves to talk about putting the state jet on eBay (even though, as is all too typical for eBay sellers these days, it didn't actually result in a sale). Whitman's record at eBay is mixed; she probably stayed three years too long. But since we're on the topic, why not put all the worthless mortgage securities the government is buying on eBay? The listing fees alone will be a major boon to the Silicon Valley economy.
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By Owen ThomasComment by CaliforniaCajun: Sweet Jesus, do I dislike that executive. If, by some tragedy, McCain is elected, perhaps he will appoint Megsy as Treasury... 3 Responses | Other threads
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layoffs
Man, why can't I get laid off by eBay?
eBay's layoffs of nearly 10 percent of its 15,000 workforce are continuing today, a tipster tells us. Losing one's job now, with the markets so fraught, is painful. But the auction giant is, to its credit, sweetening the way out. Employees are getting five months' severance and health-insurance coverage.
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By Owen ThomasComment by nirreskeya: While generous, that severance won't be as good as a job come March. 1 Responses | Other threads
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Mary Lou Song
eBay's PR fabulist launches storytelling startup
Mary Lou Song, eBay's first PR person, has formally unveiled her own startup. Tokoni, which has come out of beta to let people tell their stories online, is unremarkable, considering the number of self-indulgent self-publishing websites already out there. Except for this: Song, at eBay, is best known for inventing the company's fictitious origin myth. That old canard about Pierre Omidyar starting the site to sell his girlfriend's Pez dispensers? Years later, Song confessed she made it up. But the invention paid off: Omidyar is investing in Song's effort to collect other people's imaginings.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Shadowlayer: I bet they're buyign her silence, and that the real story is much, much more dark and horrible. They were selling... more » | Other threads
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layoffs
eBay buys Bill Me Later, lays off 1,000-plus employees
News reports confirm the rumors we heard over the weekend about eBay's layoffs. Details are scant, but our sources say some departments are losing as much as 22 percent of their staffing. Development managers have been told to expect to lose 1,700 "train seats" next year. That's programmer lingo for weeks of developers' time; one train seat is three weeks. Do the math: That means at least 100 programmers are losing their jobs in the cuts. Adding insult to injury: eBay is spending $1 billion in cash and stock to acquire three companies — payments firm Bill Me Later, and two Danish classifieds sites. What a stupid PR move, to combine the two announcements: Those getting laid off will wonder how eBay has money to spend on buying companies but not paying employees.
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By Owen ThomasComment by HeloiseKapis: True, eBay's core business is stagnated, but a lot of blame for this lies on the shoulders of Meg Whitman... 1 Responses | Other threads
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rumormonger
eBay layoffs coming Monday?
I've long wondered why a largely-automated site like eBay needs to employ 15,000 people. Soon it might not. In September, research firm Wedge Partners said eBay needed to cut 10 percent of its workforce. Now an employee tipster tells us such "big deep cuts" may come as early as Monday. Our unverified source reports that "marketing and product" and " all of the horizontal support is at risk." If the axe doesn't drop Monday, it "will be done by earnings call on the fifteenth." What's gone wrong? eBay sellers don't like auctions as much as they used to, and as just another fixed-price online store eBay hasn't been able to compete.
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Comment by foobarz: as an ex-employee I often wondered the same. 15,000 people to run a web site? Doesn't their new CEO get around... 1 Responses | Other threads
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breakdowns
Skype apologizes for Chinese privacy breach
Josh Silverman, president of eBay's Skype Internet-calling service, has issued a mea culpa blog post. The short version: Tom Online, Skype's Chinese partner, is storing instant messages sent over the service — and storing them insecurely, to boot. [Skype Blogs] -
search
Search for an eBay item, get $250 back from Microsoft's shareholders
Wonder why Microsoft is losing so much money online? Its Live Cashback offer isn't the sole reason, but it's symptomatic of the problem. Since June, Microsoft has included eBay in a program which offers users of its Windows Live search engine discounts when they click on ads and buy a product. Coupon-tracking blogs report that Microsoft and eBay have increased the discount to 30 percent, up to a maximum of $250. It's inconceivable that this can pay off for Microsoft, but there's no reason not to get a cheap laptop. Trust us, Bill Gates can afford it.
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By Owen ThomasComment by elicit: not very accurate. the bulk of the cost of the discount is covered by referral revenue. maybe live search is... more » | Other threads
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hires
Marc Andreessen joins eBay's board, will crush you
Marc Andreessen has been invited to join the board at eBay. The online auction company has been struggling of late, never mind CEO John Donahoe's assertion that what's bad for the American economy is good for eBay. Andreessen, probably smelling the stink blowing in from the rising tide, stockpiled enough venture capital to last Ning through a "nuclear winter." Proving his acumen at swindling investors if nothing else — and he does know how to keep employees overworked between stints at eager, young startups like Netscape and Ning and layoff-happy AOL. [San Jose Mercury News]
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By Jackson WestComment by ResearchZilla: dude, it just hit me: marc is the chubby and nerdy twin of corgan (smashing pumpkins) but in his zwan... more » | Other threads
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caption contest
A+A+A+. EXCELLENT SCRATCHER. GREAT COMMUNICATION. WOULD DO BUSINESS WITH AGAIN.
A reader describes the scene: "Meg [Whitman] relaxes by violating the privacy of a small dog." The friendly image of a woman, her dog Eastie and her dog's ladyparts ran with a fawning profile by Jon Swartz in USA Today that alludes to a possible gubernatorial run by the former eBay CEO and current Republican Party operative. C'mon, I know you can come up with a better headline. Leave it in the comments and we'll crown the winner by replacing the title of this post. Yesterday BerthaAgrippa gave us a tickle with "Enabling intimate one to one customer relationships."
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By Jackson WestComment by null: A+A+A+. EXCELLENT SCRATCHER. GREAT COMMUNICATION. WOULD DO BUSINESS WITH AGAIN. 1 Responses | Other threads
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layoffs
New ex-Yahoos won't be alone on the street
Jerry Yang, you're not helping the local economy. Silicon Valley unemployment reached 6.5 percent last month, up from 6.4 percent in July. It's the fourth month in a row that the number increased, reports Digital Daily. Hewlett-Packard recently announced it plans to cut 24,000 jobs, and an analyst said eBay needs to lose 1,500. But we're curious: Have any startups had layoffs? The snidely buoyant attitude of South of Market's bubble dwellers is unlikely to change until their friends start getting pink-slipped.
valleywag
San Francisco, 5:13 AM
Fri Jul 10
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