Starboard Nominates Four to eBay Board, Pushes for External CEO Candidates

By Dave Sebastian

Activist investor Starboard Value LP nominated four people to the eBay Inc.'s board and is pushing for an external figure to fill the vacant chief executive spot amid its frustration that eBay hasn't moved quickly enough to sell its online-classified-ads business.

The Wall Street Journal last week reported that Starboard has nominated a minority slate of directors to eBay's 14-person board.

Starboard's nominees for eBay's board are Peter Feld, a managing member at Starboard; Shannon Brayton, the former chief marketing officer of LinkedIn; Eddy Hartenstein, the previous publisher and chief executive of the Los Angeles Times Media Group; and Stephanie Tilenius, the founder and chief executive of Vida Health Inc., Mr. Feld said in a letter to eBay's board.

Ebay, which has a market value of roughly $25 billion, has been without a permanent chief executive since Devin Wenig departed in September following clashes with the board. Scott Schenkel, who previously served as finance chief, is the interim CEO.

Among the attributes of Starboard's ideal eBay CEO is the ability to drive growth and profit at eBay's core marketplace business, a view the investor has previously expressed, Mr. Feld said.

"Much work remains to be done and business trends in the core Marketplace business have continued on a downward trajectory," Mr. Feld said, adding that "given our concerns over certain historical decisions, we worry that the Board may default to an internal candidate."

Write to Dave Sebastian at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2020 08:52 ET (12:52 GMT)

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