Thursday was not a good day for eBay, as the online auctioneer announced a key executive's plan to leave the company and a financial analyst issued a report saying Google Checkout represents a bigger
threat to the online company than it appears. Incidentally, the departing executive, Jeff Jordon, is the President of eBay's online payment service, PayPal--the very business Google is taking aim at
with its latest initiative. Previously, Jordon led eBay's North America division from 2000 to 2004, and many analysts thought he was next in line to succeed Meg Whitman as the company's chief
executive. Jordon says he's leaving to spend more time with the wife and kids. Rajiv Dutta replaces him as the company's chief financial officer, head of strategy and president of Skype, its Internet
telephony business. Doug Anmuth, a Lehman Bros. analyst, called Jordon's departure "highly significant" because it comes at a time when eBay is faced with new competitive threats and needs leadership.
Meanwhile, Mark Mahaney, a Citigroup analyst, cut his earnings forecast for eBay, based on analysis of Google Checkout--causing him to slash his target share price from $51 to $40. The negative news
caused eBay shares to fall well below that, hitting $26.85 on the NASDAQ after a 5.3 percent drop. Mahaney said Checkout appears to be faster, easier, and less expensive than PayPal. Dutta responded
to the report by pointing to the service's 105 million account holders, calling it an uncontested leader in the space. Google Checkout has already been banned by eBay as an acceptable payment method
for products sold on the site.
Read the whole story at Associated Press »
