eBay’s New Leader Moves Swiftly On Revamp

The New York Times:

John Donahoe wasted little time as the new chief executive of Internet giant eBay before announcing big changes.

Less than an hour after being named to the top spot at eBay by the departing chief executive Meg Whitman, Mr. Donahoe said in a conference call with analysts that the company must move more quickly and aggressively to make eBay more appealing to buyers and sellers.

In an effort to reinvigorate growth of the core eBay site, Mr. Donahoe said he would shift eBay’s emphasis from auctions to fixed priced listing, which could make the experience of buying on eBay more like the one customers have come to expect from sites like Amazon.com.

He has been president of eBay’s marketplaces division for the last three years after Ms. Whitman recruited him from Bain & Company, the consulting firm. He assumes the new job on March 31.

“Auctions will always be the core of the core of eBay, it’s what makes eBay unique,” Mr. Donahoe said in a joint interview with Ms. Whitman on Wednesday afternoon. But he noted that fixed priced sales now account for 40 percent of eBay’s marketplace revenue. “We are following our users. They like convenience so what we are simply doing is putting a more explicit focus on that.”

Photo by Rick Wilking/Reuters.

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