In Focus

Margaret C. Whitman

The eBay website is like a cyber-playground for adults. I'll admit I hadn't spent a lot of time on this online auction website before researching this article, but man, could I waste an afternoon or two there now! From clothing to automobiles, it has pretty much anything and everything. I quickly clicked on sports memorabilia for kicks and giggles and typed in my husband's name, "Kevin Kaminski." I grinned. Four whole items! Then I typed in Chick Karin's husband's name, "Phil 'Big League' Housley." Wow. Two full pages of goodies! No matter your preference, you'll find something that interests you at eBay.

What interests a Chick, however, goes beyond bids on Beanie Babies and antique toys. She wants to know about a well-run company and the person responsible for managing it. Margaret C. Whitman, CEO, started with eBay three years after its inception. What a grand three years it's been. EBay offers 4,500 categories from Pez dispensers to the kitchen sink. It generates revenues through listing and selling fees and boasts a whopping 16 million registered users. In the last few years it has even become available in Australia, Canada, and Japan. At Fiscal Year end 12/31/00 revenues rose 92%, and with Gross Margins at 77.61% and Net Margins at 11.19%, somebody's doing something right!

Whitman, born August 4, 1956 grew up in Long Island, New York. She got her degree in Economics from Princeton University, and an MBA from Harvard University. She began her career working at Disney's Consumer Products Unit as a Senior Vice President in 1989. From there, she walked over to Stride Rite and was responsible for the introduction of Munchkin Shoes. In 1995 Whitman was named CEO of FTD Florists until 1997, when she was hired by Hasbro to manage Playskool and the ubiquitous Mr. Potato Head. Finally, in 1998, Margaret, often referred to as Meg (gotta like that!) became the President and CEO of eBay. She is married to Griffith R. Harsh IV, a Stanford University School of Medicine Neurosurgeon. Together they have two sons.

Whitman appears to be a big advocate for the consumer. She was very vocal in the political arena speaking on a variety of issues involving e-commerce. While many companies actually sell their customer lists to other companies, eBay doesn't. And although Ms. Whitman might not agree with the purpose of distributing customer characteristics including purchasing behaviors, she still believes Federal Regulation is unnecessary. She also spoke about eBay's volunteer removal of guns from their online trading options. Although she feels the trading of antique guns is a legitimate hobby for some collectors, she didn't feel comfortable knowing that there was no way to be sure who was actually on the receiving end when guns are bought and sold online.

On the question of Internet taxation, Meg feels the obligatory taxing of buyers and sellers is appropriate at this time. However, she believes that to consider putting additional taxes on Internet purchases could very well harm the industry. Such a move would obviously greatly affect her company (and consumer pocketbooks!), so it's no surprise that she should weigh in on this subject.

A unique practice of Ms. Whitman's is that each month she allows ten to twenty customers to come into the eBay offices for a tour. She reaches out to eBay's heaviest users. would you believe these people spend approximately five to ten hours per day on eBay? Heck, I'd have 'em over for dinner at that rate!

There's been much ado about Margaret Whitman's rather measly salary. She began somewhere under $300,000 a year, but trust me, she's no dummy. Her 5% stake in eBay is worth an incredible 1.4 billion today. In 1998 she was given the option to buy 14.4 million split adjusted shares at 3.5 cents each. She exercised all of them and BOOM. she was a billionaire.

listed Margaret C. Whitman as number five on their list of top 50 Most Important People Shaping Technology Today. I bet the habitual users of eBay see her as some kind of Goddess. Think about the ability people have now to buy and sell things in a short time and for a miniscule price. Imagine the collector who used to have to travel from coast to coast to make deals on rare finds. Now, everyone is happy. And me? I'm definitely SOLD!