Voice of Experience: Meg Whitman, eBay

After ten years at the helm of eBay, President and CEO Meg Whitman announced that she intends to retire effective today, March 31, 2008. A visionary in the field of online commerce and a true leader, Ms. Whitman offers a Voice of Experience for young women in business. She will be succeeded by John Donahoe, 47, who has headed eBay’s auction and e-commerce businesses.Meg Whitman became President and CEO of eBay, the online auction website, in 1998. One of only 12 female CEOs in the Fortune 500, she has lead eBay with a vision and unique sense of direction that has enabled the company to grow from a small online trading website to the largest e-commerce site in the world. When she took the helm of eBay, Ms. Whitman focused on building the eBay brand into a household name, and improving consumer trust and confidence in the online commerce experience.Background of a LeaderMs. Whitman, 51, attended Princeton University, where she received a BA in Economics. She went on to matriculate at Harvard Business School, where she received her MBA in 1979.After HBS, Ms. Whitman began her business career at Procter & Gamble where she worked in brand management. She moved on to the financial consulting firm Bain & Co., where she spent eight years and rose to the level of Vice President. From 1989 to 1992, Ms. Whitman served as Senior Vice President of the Consumer Products Division of the Walt Disney Company. Then, Ms, Whitman moved onto Stride Rite, where she ran the Keds division, and was responsible for repositioning several highly successful Stride Rite brands, including Munchkin baby shoes.For 1995 to 1997, Ms. Whitman stayed in the global retail industry and perfected her skills in brand marketing as President and CEO of Florist Transworld Delivery (FTD), where she managed the company’s transition to a for-profit, privately held company.Before joining to eBay, Ms. Whitman was general manager of Hasbro Inc.’s Preschool Division, where she managed the Playskool and Mr. Potato Head brands and made the Pre-School Division once again profitable.Business Lessons from a Top Female CEOMs. Whitman built an online auction empire, and in doing so, surpassed a field of tough competitors, including Yahoo!, Amazon.com and Lycos to dominate the e-commerce market. She focused on building the site by improving security technology to inspire consumer confidence and make the site easier for consumers to use.When she joined eBay in 1998, the company has 30 employees and revenues of $86 million. In 2008, the company has 15,000 employees and enjoyed $5.97 billion in revenues last year.By growing eBay into the world’s most recognizable e-commerce brand, Ms. Whitman has also made herself one of the wealthiest women in the world. In 2007, her personal net worth was estimated at $1.4 billion, making her one of the world’s few self-made female billionaires.However, everything eBay has touched hasn’t always turned to gold. In October 2005, the company acquired online telecommunications company Skype for $2.6 billion, a price that was widely considered to be much too high. In October 2007, eBay announced that it would have to take a $900 million write-down in connection with the Skype deal.Ms. Whitman has been a charismatic and creative leader of eBay, and has wrestled with some of its most vexing problems and come up with innovative solutions. Her retirement comes as a critical time for the company, which has been facing declining revenues in a down market.Ms. Whitman offers a few pieces of advice to young people at the beginning of their business careers.

“Several pieces of advice I’ve gotten in my life have really made a difference. ‘Be nice to people.’ This sounds like a platitude, but I’ll never forget my father telling me that. I was 10, and I had been mean to someone. He said, ‘There is no point in being mean to anyone at any time. You never know who you’re going to meet later in life. And by the way, you don’t change anything by being mean. Usually you don’t get anywhere.’

“Be nice, do your best–and most important, keep it in perspective. Remember that you can do anything you want to do. Don’t let anyone say, ‘You’re not smart enough … it’s too hard … it’s a dumb idea … no one has done that before … girls don’t do that.’ My mom gave me that advice in 1973. And it allowed me to never worry about what others were saying about my career direction.”

Finally, in addition to her work at eBay, Ms. Whitman serves on the board of Proctor & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation. After her retirement, Ms. Whitman will continue to serve on eBay’s board of directors. Ms. Whitman has made large charitable donations to her alma mater, Princeton, as well as to a variety of Republican political candidates. Some insiders say that she may be considering a run for governor of California in 2010.