A source told Reuters that the stake of activist investor Carl Icahn in eBay Inc is nearly 2%, which is more than what was reported before. This week, eBay said Icahn bought a 0.82% stake in the e-commerce giant earlier this month. He also submitted a non-binding proposal for eBay to hive off its payments platform, PayPal. The market capitalization of eBay is pegged at around $70 billion, the report said.
Reuters asked representatives of the e-commerce firm and the activist investor to comment on the size of the stake but both have not yet given their responses, the report said.
In an interview, Icahn told Reuters that he would rather have the payments platform spun off than be sold outright. He said, "I personally think you do a spinoff tax-free. After that maybe it could potentially be sold at a great premium."
Earlier this week, eBay Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe had strongly refused the proposal of Icahn, saying that it would be best for the company to stay intact.
Aside from proposing the spin off, Icahn also nominated two individuals to the board of eBay. The e-commerce firm said they were Daniel Ninivaggi and Jonathan Christodoro, who were both worked for Icahn Enterprises LP. The two are nominated regularly to boards by the activist investor, the report said.
Christodoro is identified as a director at Herbalife Inc as well as Talisman Energy Inc. Ninivaggi, meanwhile, is a Federal-Mogul Corp director, the report said.In a Reuters interview, Donahoe described the eBay board of directors as "world class."
Icahn also has his eyes on other technology firms. The activist investor had purchased more shares in Apple Inc which has amounted to $500 million recently, bringing his total investment in the technology firm to more than $3 billion, the report said.
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