After picking the wrong horse in the Presidential Election (where she might have become Secretary of the Treasury if John McCain had won), former eBay CEO Meg Whitman now looks to be laying the groundwork for a run at the governorship in California in 2010. (The current Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, cannot run for another term under existing laws). Whitman today resigned from all the corporate boards she serves on—eBay, Procter & Gamble, and Dreamworks Animation. While she hasn’t formally declared that she is even exploring the possibility of becoming a candidate, that is the scuttlebutt.
If she wins the Republican nomination, candidates she could face on the Democratic side include former California Governor Jerry Brown (who is thinking of running again) and two popular mayors (Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles). If she hopes to stand a chance, she needs to cultivate more of a populist streak. Expect to see her on a lot more talk shows.
Even though she left eBay a year ago, much of her appeal will be tied to the public’s perception of the company, which has seen better days. If eBay turns itself around and is once again seen as a success in two years, that will help her campaign. But if eBay sellers and buyers continue to flee from the service, that will hurt her. She cannot escape the eBay association.
Would you vote for her?
While I don’t think she is a bad person or bad leader, her unflinching support of the horrible McCain campaign would give me pause.
It’s more about being a good leader of people and having a business mind that being a GOP or a DEM – we’ve seen bad in both.
And Meg has WAY better people skills than Carly Annoying Fiorina.
Obama will likely be the most popular DEM to in the GOP base ever.
Give me a break, all this woman did was ride the inevitable wave of eBay to the top while establishing a terrible culture at the company that’s held back innovative product development. What else does she have to run on? A charming personality? For some reason I doubt that she can count on getting the Terminator’s hispanic voting block. No chance.
Absolutely. I suppose the dream is for California to become just as well-organized and well-running as EBay itself. Huzzah!
eBay well run? I don’t pretend to know anything for certain, but I do think she’s steadily being credited with weakening eBay significantly over her stay there.
I’m not a Repub but would vote for her based on her business accumen. Fiscal conservatives are fine (& actually would be quite useful in these tough economic times), it’s the social conservative/Bible-thumpers that give most people the willies.
hell no!
What else does she have to run on? A charming personality? For some reason I doubt that she can count on getting the Terminator’s hispanic voting block. No chance. Thanks.
http://www.jugargame.com/
keyword “hell”
Create or join a crunchie’s chat group at http://groups.im/
What track record?
Her rise to the top was due solely to eBay’s monopoly…which they already had when she came on board. And you don’t need to be a genius to decide…Hey know what? Lets open an eBay in Germany.
And what about the last couple of years? She let eBay get completely destroyed by Amazon. She pissed money away money left and right making dumb ass purchases. Who can honestly say, that she left on a high note?
yes i will vote for her.
no way a normal person with relevant business or political experience will win. I’m voting for Rowdy Roddy Piper
[I]Even though she left eBay a year ago, much of her appeal will be tied to the public’s perception of the company, which has seen better days. If eBay turns itself around and is once again seen as a success in two years, that will help her campaign. But if eBay sellers and buyers continue to flee from the service, that will hurt her. She cannot escape the eBay association.[/I]
WTF! do you seriously believe that anyone outside of tech is going to know who the hell she is or care about what ebay sellers are bitching about. Get a clue you guys suck more every time I read you posts…
She has never demonstrated any business acumen to me, and her association with the McCain campaign is not positive, and likely won’t be viewed as such by CA voters.
And where do people get the idea that business success automatically translates to political, policy and government success? There are few examples – the exception proves the rule. It’s a different ballgame.
That’s like saying a baseball player can play basketball.
As a British citizen, I can’t vote for any US candidate on any level. As a generally left-leaning person, voting Republican would be tough.
But as a former eBay employee (I’ve been outta there for more than two years now) who saw Meg at close quarters over many years, I can say (without hesitation) that I would vote for her as governor of California.
She is formidable. And rather underated as a manager and a leader. If you don’t want her… we could find her lots of useful things to do on this side of the pond. ;o)
You’re welcome to her.
I’ve never met her personally, but I also spent some time at eBay, and its software development and product management efforts were both terrible, so inefficient and sclerotic that you’d think that they were in a company 5x the size and 10x the age. The only people I know who still work there are ones whose visa needs mean they’d have to leave the country if they quit.
As far as I could tell, the only things that kept eBay in business were an effective monopoly and an incredibly strong technical operations group. Whitman seemed to have a genuine touch for dealing with the community, and a sense of humility that is regrettably rare in CEOs. But having her run an organization I’m part of is not an experience I plan to repeat.
hells no.
Qualifications:
Harvard MBA … this used to be worth something. Now, its one notch higher then Cerritos Junior College. George W Bush also has an MBA from Harvard and I wouldn’t let him go near my $75 checking account.
eBay CEO -…. A moron could have been CEO of this company and made millions in the early ’00’s. The company is now a distaster and on the verge of being put out of business by Amazon. The same Amazon that eBay executives laughed at only a few years back.
On the positive side. She seems like a nice lady.However, I don’t know her personally and have heard that she doesn’t exude confidence in a leadership role.
The ONLY way you win California going forward is to have the Latino vote. PERIOD!!!
Geez. I should become a political consultant, eh.
Yes, she gets business and tech which is what the Governor in California needs to do if the state is to have any hope of balancing the budget and growing in the future.
I’ll take a Harvard MBA over another lawyer or politician that doesn’t get the way markets and the economy work.
one word:
SKYPE
amazing how one word can say a thousand wtf’s?
Dead on.
Will she replace the state’s phone system with Skype? Oh, wait, that didn’t work out so well for eBay, did it? No big deal — it was only $2.6 billion…
Contact me for the real deal on ebay and it’s so called power players. The info I have will soon become global news.
Shouldn’t this be on valleywag?
you forgot or you decided to clearly leave out the fact that she was against gay marriage in california.
Good point!
So was the vast majority of this state… Did you forget to leave that out?
I’m voting for mary carey
I’m voting for Gary Coleman.
I’m voting for Gallagher…again.
Hopefully in two years, America will have had enough of “populism” (read class warfare), and get back to the concepts that make this country great – individualism, personal responsibility, free markets, no bailouts, and no more whining.
Doubtful. With the baby boomers retiring, both parties will be competing for their votes with handouts.
YES – look how far that has gotten us! If you’re hurting, or a victim, who cares? It’s your fault! Bailouts are for wimps. Too bad if somebody lied to you. You deserve it!!!
There is no such thing as luck or misfortune!!!!
Markets cannot fail. There is no such thing as market failure. Wake up, you collectivist sissies! Go out and succeed, for God’s sake!
Clearly from J’s post post the “no more whining” may take some time.
Give the Governator another 8 years!
As a Republican? Who on earth would want to do that?
Who in California (besides the brain dead GOP true believers) would vote for a GOP Gov?
The GOP should slip quietly into a self induced intellectual comma for a couple terms.
An intellectual coma? That’s where they’ve been.
She better work fast before her forehead eats the rest of her face
Wow that’s a lotta forehead!
More than George Costanza
More like a fivehead
I really don’t think that being the CEO of a tech company gives you the skill set to understand the negotiation skills required to work with a legislature (nor does being an actor, hence our unbalanced budget 2-3 years in a row(?)). Between Indian Gaming compacts, Gay marriage , abortion rights, off shore drilling lobbyists (for and against), Ms. Whitman will be wishing for the good old days of activist shareholders. Although given the choice between her and Brown or Newsom, I’d definitely vote for Gary Coleman.
Ebay is the worst company on the planet. I will not vote for her.
I think that Yahoo should buy Ebay. Are they still in the lawsuit with Craigslist? That sux.
This gets to me. Why ebay sneaky move to buy a portion of craigslist and then decided to sue them. Pretty mess up. Like how ebay is messing up their sellers.
Secretary of State you say if McCain had one? I don’t think so and with all due respect I don’t think that would be the best fit. Maybe commerce secretary.
Anyways California is a tough state run in. There are lots of constituencies with completely conflicting views (e.g. Orange County vs. San Francisco). As has been pointed out, the skills of a politician are very different than that of a successful business person.
I used to work with Meg. She won the lottery when she got the Ebay job and proceeded to do NOTHING innovative during her tenure except make overpriced acquisitions. Many of us who know Meg personally know she is a political shark but an intellectual void. Rich does not equate to economic insight or judgment.
What qualifies Whitman for the office? A long history of successful public service? A record of finding or backing demonstrably superior solutions to public problems? Or that she was in charge once of a well-known brand, and we’re all to lazy to look further?
Please, please, please: Let’s study our candidates with the same care we would give to buying a house, not choosing an ice cream flavor.
She can run, but she can’t hide.
> If she wins the Republican nomination, candidates she could face on the Democratic side include former California Governor Jerry Brown (who is thinking of running again) and two popular mayors (Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles).
Calling those folks a clown college would be undeserved praise, and I think clowns are creepy.
There’s waaay too much Corporate in America’s political activities.
Forget her.
Yes I would not only vote for her but I would work for her campaign- and I am a democrat!
What is wrong with you guys- Do you not get that Arnold is a Republican who everyone said would never get elected in a Democratic state!
Why is it a young male Latino blogger with no credentials, thinks he has enough qualifications & machismo to make bitch-like comments on one of the worlds most successful businesswomen? After you build a multibillion dollar company baby – come back and pile that stuff as high as you think you’re capable of spewing from that miniscule brainlike head…….
And, while you are at it, if someone has to point out to you why Gavin Newsom is a friggin ding bat- you need to go live in La La Land with Caroline Kennedy.
anyone who would vote for whitman is an idiot
Hell NO! No to Republicans and No Way Meg. I’m surprised she’s even thinking of contending after having ruined eBay. If only Disney had given her that job.
I read the article in Fortune magazine and I belive she is exactly what our stae needs. In fact the entire country needs to come to gripps with run away costs, excessive taxation and the negative imppacts for future generations and the economy.
Our current Govornor became so politically involved and wish washie on issues, he lost all credibility with voters and even his own party.
Having leved this criticism, it is important to note that elected officials need to begin to deal with bigger pictureissue and quite ignoring long term effects of acting to satisfy special interest groups at the long term expense of the greater clooective–the people at llarge.
PPPPPUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!