|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks to CEO Meg Whitman, eBay has grown from a tiny auction site into one of the most successful businesses in the world. eBay, a site that was built with the idea of trading Pez dispensers, now handles over $30 billion in transactions annually, with no slowdown in sight.
Whitman came to eBay armed with a Harvard MBA and a long track record of success during stints at Walt Disney, FTD and Hasbro. When she arrived at eBay in 1998, the company was in its relative infancy, with revenues under $6 million annually. Under Whitman's stewardship, eBay has grown from a grass-roots curiosity into a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. By the end of 2004, revenue figures had topped the $3 billion mark and, based on first-half results, revenues for 2005 are expected to exceed $4 billion.
How big is eBay today? Based on a July 2005 survey, 724,000 Americans reported that eBay was their primary or secondary source of income. Another 1.5 million Americans supplement their income by selling on eBay. In the second quarter of 2005, there were 440 million new listings on eBay and 64.6 million active users.
There have been many accolades for Whitman. She was on Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in both 2004 and 2005. She was ranked #1 in Worth's 2002 list of best CEOs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
