Last Wednesday, eBay CEO John Donahoe said that he spoke to a number of active shareholders in the company. Donahoe met and talked with 16 out of 20 shareholders of the online retailer, reported Reuters. Most of the investors at eBay agreed with Donahoe's move to resist billionaire and activist investor Carl Icahn's demand to spin-off the PayPal unit.
PayPal is an online payment system that has been growing fast after eBay acquired it in 2002. The online retailer paid USD1.5 billion for its acquisition of PayPal in the said year. In a Reuters interview, Donahoe said "I met with 15, 16 of our top 20 active investors, have engaged back and forth in dialogue with them. The majority of them understand that they're stronger together,"
According to Thomson Reuters, the top 20 investors referred to by Donahoe hold a combined 42% share in eBay Inc. Meanwhile, Pierre Omidyar, the biggest shareholder of eBay who holds 8.4% of the company supports Donahoe's to keep PayPal and stay intact.
Join the Conversation