Global eBay President and CEO John Donahoe visited Israel last week and took advantage of his time here to part with the company’s workers, according to “Globes” sources. Donahoe, who announced in September of last year that eBay and PayPal would be splitting into two separate companies, has also announced that he will be leaving the company after a decade of leading the online-payment giant and the e-commerce giant.
Over the course of his stay in Israel, Donahoe took advantage of the opportunity to visit eBay and PayPal offices in Israel, in order to part with the workers personally, and to speak with them briefly about the upcoming split between the companies, and what the future holds. Donahoe visited the eBay development and sales center in Netanya, the PayPal development and sales center in Tel Aviv, and the PayPal cyber-center in Beersheva.
The Beersheva center came into existence with the joint cmpany’s acquisition of young Israeli start-up CyActive for $60 million in March. This was after the company, founded by Liran Tancman and Shlomi Boutnaru, had raised just $2 million, and participated in the Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) Beersheva cyber-incubator.
Previously, in September 2011, eBay acquired The Gifts Project, founded by Ron Gura, Maya Gura, Matan Bar, and Erez Dickman, for between $10 million and $20 million. Following the acquisition, the Tel Aviv start-up became eBay’s Tel Aviv innovation center.
In 2008, eBay acquired Fraud Sciences, founded by Saar Wilf and Shvat Shaked, for $169 million, and turned it into PayPal’s Tel Aviv development and fraud division. In 2005, eBay had its first Israeli acquisition when it bought Shopping.com, founded by Amir Ashkenazi and Nahum Sharfman, for $634 million.
In his only ever interview with an Israeli newspaper, Donahoe told “Globes” in 2012, “I think Israel is a dynamic and important part of the future of the Internet, and of course eBay. We see in Israel a source of innovation and talent. We are looking to increase our presence in Israel and we will continue to seek good technologies and talents in Israel, in order to bring innovation into the company.” A few months later, in September 2012, Donahoe visited Israel for the first time for the Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI) High Tech Industry Association (HTIA) conference.
Donahoe’s position will be filled by Devin Wenig, who is currently president of eBay Marketplaces, which responsible for the eBay website. Wenig will become eBay CEO after the split. Dan Schulman, former American Express group president of enterprise growth, has served as PayPal president since September 2014, after the online-payment giant went a few months without a president. This was following the abrupt departure of the company’s previous president, David Marcus, who is currently vice president of messaging products at Facebook.
Donahoe, who joined the Nike board of directors last year, is expected to join PayPal’s board of directors as well. It is not yet clear what Donahoe’s next position will be.
Sources inform “Globes” that while in Israel, Donahoe took part in a special dinner that was held in his honor, which was attended by leading Israeli investors and entrepreneurs.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 8, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015