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poltiics
HP's Senate Candidate Failed as Citizen
Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO, is thinking of running for a California senate seat. The Republican party is all for it. So it's too bad she hates voting — even worse than other Silicon Valley CEOs. More » -
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 » -
politics
Facebook's Privacy Czar Leaves to Run for California A.G.
Chris Kelly, Facebook's chief privacy officer, has made official long-rumored plans to run for California's attorney general. He's just the latest Silicon Valley figure to enter politics. More » -
twitterati
The Twitterati Get a Free Lunch from the MSM
Twitter is the ideal medium to express your own idiocy. Dan Abrams denounces the mainstream media which gave birth to his career, a Google-enriched entrepreneur eats its free lunch, and Alan Meckler discovers Twitter: More » -
politics
Meg Whitman Was for Gay Rights Before She Was Against Them
In her run for governor of California, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman wants to talk about the economy. But the GOP candidate's pro-business, small-government agenda keeps getting derailed by her big gay problem. More » -
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 » -
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 » -
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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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. -
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. -
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 » -
exits
Jerry Yang out as Yahoo CEO
Yahoo founder Jerry Yang is stepping down as CEO, and a search is underway for a replacement after a tumultuous 18 months on the job. Which is curious. In a recent interview, Yang had just told AllThingsD's Kara Swisher, "In this uncertain environment, I think I am absolutely the right person" to lead Yahoo. He must have changed his mind; Swisher reports that the decision was a "mutual" one made by Yang and Yahoo's board of directors. Either Yang was lying to Swisher, or he was deceived about the board's lack of support for him. Executive recruiter Heidrick & Struggles is conducting a search for Yang's replacement. Finding a successor to Yang will be difficult — not because Yang is irreplaceable, but because he has made such a mess of things that it will be hard to persuade a capable executive to risk their reputation fixing it. 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. -
crash this bash
Party GOP-style with Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina
We don't know if our tipster was drunk or if the event got relocated after we wrote about it, but Lead21's election-night viewing party, which we had heard was due to be held at the house of Facebook board member Peter Thiel, is now taking place at Jones, a sports bar and steakhouse in San Francisco near Thiel's Marina-district mansion. (The rationale for the locale: Jones has more televisions for watching the results.) Thiel is a major player in Lead21, and has hosted previous election-night parties for San Francisco's Republican minority, we're told, but he may skip this one because of his travel plans. Still, if you want to get a gander of guests of honor Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, the tech CEOs turned McCain advisors, show up at Jones starting at 5 p.m. The bar remains open to the public during the event, so you're not technically crashing. (Photo by AP/Dharapak) -
politics
Party with Peter Thiel, Log Cabin Republican!
"Where have Silicon Valley's Republicans gone?" laments CNET News writer Declan McCullagh. George W. Bush backer Tim Draper has switched to the Obama team. There are a few stalwarts: Former Valley CEOs Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina have campaigned for McCain. And the two are going to be special guests at an election-night party thrown by Lead21. The group, which describes itself as "an influential political organization formed by entrepreneurial business leaders," is coy about the location of the party. More » -
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. -
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. -
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. -
politics
McCain eyes Whitman, Chambers for Treasury
If John McCain gets into the White House, he probably won't ask Treasury secretary Henry Paulson to stay. "I think it would be someone that Americans would recognize that would inspire trust and confidence. There's people like John Chambers, there's people like Meg Whitman, there's people like Warren Buffett," McCain told Reuters. Two of those three might consider the job a step up. (Photos by AP/Dharapak, AP/Paul Sakuma) -
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." -
politics
Meg Whitman's eBay couldn't actually sell Sarah Palin's jet
During her speech at the Republican National Convention, VP nominee and Alaska governor Sarah Palin said that when she took office she first started cutting state spending by selling her predecessor's jet. Then Palin nailed a crowd-pleaser saying: "I put it on eBay." And it's true, she did. But eBay, then helmed by Palin's fellow RNC speaker Meg Whitman, couldn't handle the business. Palin's people listed the jet three times on the site, but no one would bid a minimum of $2.5 million. "The eBay thing didn't work out very well," a local paper wrote after the failures. Palin eventually sold the jet using a traditional aircraft broker, selling it for $2.1 million — $500,000 less than the state paid. -
politics
Watch RNC delegates trying to ignore Meg Whitman's speech
When she was CEO at eBay, Meg Whitman was known for her speeches. Or at least, she was known for her love of them. Her talent for them, not so much. What happened when she addressed a crowd of people who weren't drawing a paycheck from her? Speaking before prime time during the Republican National Convention last night, Whitman dutifully stuck to the McCain campaign's talking points in a 10-minute-long — long, long, long — speech on prosperity through lowered taxes and offshore drilling. Cameras showed the crowd ignoring her 5 minutes in. From that point on, Whitman was little more than background noise for conversations with other delegates. Now we know why Whitman only made McCain's list of 20 finalists for the VP job he eventually gave to Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who brought down the house with her own flinty partisan jabs later that night. -
politics
MSNBC.com catches rare footage of dancing Republicans
While waiting for former HP CEO Carly Fiorina to follow former eBay CEO Meg Whitman's speech with her own, MSNBC's Internet-only live video feed of the Republican National Convention caught this footage of Republican square-staters grooving to 1982's rockabilly hit, "Rock This Town," by The Stray Cats. The clip has a cautionary message for Obama's Facebook-generation supporters: When their candidate says he's "postpartisan," potential voters closing in on AARP membership clearly hear "postboomers." -
politics
Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina to speak at convention tonight
A consolation prize for raising millions of dollars from their Fortune 500 rolodexes: Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina will speak at the Republican National Convention tonight. Both also made Republican presidential candidate John McCain's list of 20 potential vice presidential candidates, aides told the New York Times. Like McCain's real first choice, Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, neither Whitman nor Fiorina would have satisfied the conservative Christian base quite like McCain's eventual choice, the pro-life, pro-guns governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Also, neither looks quite so much like the adorable Liz Lemon, am I right? Fiorina has already gone on TV to attack Obama for attacking Palin, but Whitman kind of sounds less jazzed by the Palin pick. "John McCain made the choice that's right for him,'' Whitman told reporters Tuesday. More » -
politics
Meg Whitman's big day? Nope
Republican presidential candidate John McCain is set to announce his VP today and the New York Times says he's ruled out former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and Alaska governor Sarah Palin as possible running mates. (Update: McCain ended up picking Palin after all.) Does that mean McCain will go with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, whom he recently described as one of the three wisest people he knows? A Democratic member of Congress thinks so, according to the Atlantic Monthly. More » -
commenter of the day
pepelicious
I always knew Meg Whitman reminded me of someone. Our ruthless commenter spells out why she could cut it as McCain's VP: More » -
politics
Meg Whitman for vice president?
Retired eBay CEO and McCain campaign national cochair Meg Whitman will speak on the second day of next month's Republican National Convention. The second day — dedicated to the theme of prosperity in tough times, according to a press release — is also the same day McCain's yet-to-be-named running mate is scheduled to speak. McCain could do a lot worse than to ask Whitman to take the podium for that time slot. Some think he's seriously considering it. More » -
nerdfight
Craigslist whines like a toddler in countersuit against eBay
Craigslist has filed suit against eBay in San Francisco County Superior Court, alleging trademark infringement, breach of fiduciary duty, anti-competitve trade practices and deceptive advertising. Why California? Because the state has some of the strictest antitrust and competition trade laws in the country. Craigslist is asking the court to award damages and force eBay to divest from the online classifieds site. Also alleged? That eBay was a big meanie. The best parts: More » -
jerry yang
Yahoo execs want cheerleader Yang back on the sidelines
According to the New York Times, when Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and his team were told that Microsoft was walking away from its $47.5 billion offer to buy the company "high-fives were exchanged." Today, analysts expect Yahoo's value to plummet to $30 billion. Gimme an O! Gimme an O! Gimme a P! Gimme an S! — Yahoo employees, many of them suddenly poorer, told Kara Swisher they want Yang back on the sidelines where such cheerleading belongs. Yang's high-five display "shows a complete lack of connection to the balance of the company," one Yahoo exec told Swisher. Another told her:Jerry could become chairman, Sue [Decker] could remain President and then someone who can really charge in and make drastic change could be CEO.
Swisher goes on with more horrified outtakes from Yahoo execs, but first — everybody say it with us, now — Up high! Down low! In space! In your face! More » -
feuds
Details of eBay's complaint against Craigslist revealed
The text of eBay's complaint filed in a Delaware court [PDF] has made its way online, and in it, eBay "seeks equitable and legal relief" from Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark for:[B]reaching their fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and good faith by implementing certain self-dealing transactions challenged herein which were designed specifically to benefit themselves to the detriment of eBay.
Allegedly Buckmaster and Newmark attempted to issue themselves new shares in order to keep more of the profits to themselves, instead of sharing the 28.4 percent eBay can demand for their stake in the company, as Valleywag predicted. After the jump, the blow-by-blow account as detailed by the Wall Street Journal. More » -
exits
Meg Whitman cleans house, but not at eBay
Meg Whitman isn't losing any sleep over eBay's role in prepping Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui for his rampage that left 33 dead. Asked what was her worst moment at eBay, Meg confides to confides to Portfolio: "The site outage in 1999," adding that she had to sleep on a cot "for multiple nights." Whitman goes on to give eBay kudos for being "incredibly vigilant around trust and safety and keeping the .01% [of customers who aren't 'basically good'] in line," a boast made all the more ridiculous by the company's recent defense of its sale of combustion-enhancing fertilizer to troubled teen Ryan Schallenberger. (The gist of eBay's defense: Ammonium nitrate isn't just used to blow up high schools and federal buildings.) Seeking Alpha has a complete transcript of the interview, in which you'll find these nuggets Portfolio's editors skipped: More » -
politics
John McCain: There will be an increase in H-1B visas in our time
Is former eBay CEO Meg Whitman impacting John McCain's immigration policy? Currently, the U.S. government refuses to raise the cap on H-1Bs, the visas which allow foreign engineers to work at American companies. This despite the fact that By 2010, Asians will account for 90 percent of the world's engineers. In this clip McCain says he'll fix that problem. Though not without due concern for the terrorists, of course. More » -
filthy rich
Mark Zuckerberg and 46 others make up the Bay Area billionaires list
Who's the richest billionaire in the Bay Area? No surprise here: Oracle founder and yachting enthusiast Larry Ellison, is the 14th wealthiest in the world (which must grate on him something fierce) with $25 billion. Trailing him are a trio of Googlers, Larry and Sergey with almost $19 billion each and CEO Eric Schmidt with $6.6 billion. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the youngest billionaire is pegged at $1.5 billion and outgoing eBay CEO Meg Whitman, one of only 99 women on the list, has $1.3 billion. Other local billionaires include Steve Jobs, Charles Schwab and George Lucas. Grab the full list from Forbes. -
politics
eBay's Meg Whitman sniped on Romney Cabinet post, but bidding on Governor's mansion?
With Romney dropping out of the race, his cofinance chair, retiring eBay CEO Meg Whitman has been outbid on a Cabinet position in the Romney Administration. But what about running for governor of California? Retired businesspeople need to find something to do with their time. Sitting around the house after running a company 24/7 is all too intolerable. Yes, Whitman smashed rumors of a 2010 gubernatorial run in California, but many, many, wannabe politicians say that before jumping into a race. -
jackpot
Is John Donahoe worth $25 million?
eBay's new CEO, John Donahoe, got a hefty payoff just for taking the job. Docu-Drama reports that his total take comes to $25 million, including a $15 million "promotion bonus" in the form of options and restricted stock. Then there's outgoing CEO Meg Whitman, who made a half-billion dollars in stock sales over her tenure, including $100 million in the past 5 months. Whitman gets free office space and secretarial services, and as a special advisor, she stays on the payroll — which means her options will continue to vest. Handy, considering so many of them are underwater. -
rumormonger
Meg Whitman quashes governor rumor, but could she serve under Romney?
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. -
meg whitman
eBay ex-CEO considers run for California governor
The Los Angeles Times reports that "Whitman has talked with top Republicans about the possibility of a run for California governor in 2010, according to three operatives who have had discussions with her. Whitman is said to be asking detailed questions about the logistics of a run and the effect she could have as governor." The eBay/PayPal punchlines here are so obvious, we'll leave them to you. -
breaking
Meg Whitman retires from eBay
eBay employees have just received an email from longtime CEO Meg Whitman announcing her retirement. She joined the company 10 years ago, when it had a mere 30 employees; it now has 14,000. John Donahoe, as expected, will succeed her as CEO. Rajiv Dutta, currently CEO of PayPal, will take Donahoe's job as head of eBay's auctions business. Whitman will remain on the board. Strange, that: In an email to employees, Whitman says it's "time for a new leadership team," and yet all the same faces are staying in place. Here's her full memo to employees. More »



































