EBay Names Lyft CEO to Board -- Update

By Ezequiel Minaya 

EBay Inc. said Tuesday that it has appointed Logan Green, co-founder and chief executive of ride-hailing company Lyft Inc., to a new seat on its board of directors.

EBay, based in San Jose, Calif., increased the size of the board to 12 from 11 seats, with Mr. Green filling the opening effective immediately.

EBay, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, presents a sharply different profile from its larger Seattle rival, Amazon.com Inc. While it has tried for years to shed its reputation as a repository for one-off items, eBay has had only mixed success in persuading brands to sell their new goods on the site.

Ebay spun off payment service PayPal last year.

Mr. Green launched Lyft in 2012 as a casual alternative to the more upscale Uber. Lyft attracted regular people earning extra money using their own vehicles, which sported fuzzy pink mustaches on the front grilles. Passengers fist-bumped the driver at the start of each ride.

As Uber and Lyft compete in dozens of U.S. cities, the lines between their services have blurred. UberX recruits moonlighting drivers in their own cars, while Lyft has nixed the fist bumps and mustaches on the grilles to appear more professional. Both companies have slashed prices and drivers' commissions, sparking outcry from workers.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 21, 2016 18:17 ET (22:17 GMT)

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