EBay CEO Whitman preparing to retire: report

By Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - EBay Inc Chief Executive Meg Whitman, one of the most powerful women in business, is preparing to retire from the online auctioneer, The Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.

EBay spokesman Hani Durzy declined comment.

The departure of the Silicon Valley veteran would come as one of the Internet's best-known companies tries to recapture the runaway growth that made it a household name connecting buyers and sellers through online auctions.

Whitman, 51, would also be following her own advice that no CEO should stay in the same job for more than a decade -- a philosophy that reflects the unassuming character that made her popular among the sellers who use eBay's auction site.

John Donahoe, the 47-year-old president of eBay's auction business unit, is the leading candidate to succeed Whitman, the newspaper said, quoting unidentified sources.

Wall Street analysts said Whitman's possible retirement would come as little surprise and the company faces a round of challenges that could benefit from new leadership. Views on Whitman's leadership in recent years were mixed.

"The buyside is sick of Meg," Tim Boyd of American Technology Research said of how some institutional investors' have wearied of waiting for turnaround measures to take hold. He advises investors buy the stock, which he says is worth $40 a share.

Shares of eBay fell as much as 7 percent in premarket trade amid a global stock market sell-off tied to fears that the U.S. economy is sinking into recession. The stock rebounded following a dramatic rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve. In afternoon trading on Nasdaq, the shares were down $1.04, or 3.7 percent, at $27.29.