Report: eBay CEO Planning Departure

According to the Wall Street Journal, eBay CEO Meg Whitman is preparing to leave the company she's shepherded for the last ten years.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that eBay CEO Meg Whitman is preparing to depart the company she’s headed up for the last 10 years. Although it appears no definite dates have been set, the WSJ cites “people familiar with the matter” as saying a decision could come in the next few weeks. eBay is due to report its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2007 on Wednesday.

Whitman is one of Silicon Valley’s longest-standing CEOs, and had lead eBay through periods of explosive growth (including its IPO) as it grew to dominate the online auction business, and shepherded the company’s acquisitions of online payment service PayPal and Internet telephony provider Skype. However, recent, eBay has been facing slowing growth in the online auction market and has warned it may have to jack fees and/or raise the proportion of sales it collects in order to meet earnings goals. Whitman has also been delegating portions of her day-to-day responsibilities to other eBay executives; industry watchers consider John Donahue, the head of eBay’s auction business, the most likely candidate to succeed Whitman.

Whitman once said that a CEO should not stay in the same job for more than a decade because they need new challenges and perspectives. It now appears she’ll be practicing what she preaches around the time her 10-year anniversary with the company rolls around this March.