Our recent report on thealphamarketer that Meg Whitman was grooming eBay (NasdaqGS:EBAY) for her departure, have been confirmed, as the company said in a statement today that her last day with the company will be on March 31.
Also as expected, she will be replaced by John Donahoe, who is heading up the main Web auction business at this time. In the statement, eBay said that the 11-member board voted unanimously for Donahoe to step up as CEO. The head of PayPal, Rajiv Dutta will take over for Donahoe in his former position.
Dutta will be replaced as head of PayPal by chief technology officer Scott Thompson.
One of the potential candidates to succeed Whitman, Bill Cobb, who was president of eBay North America, will also step down.
Responding to Whitman's departure, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar said, "Meg's passion for all things eBay changed the world. Meg took a small, barely known online auction site and helped it become an integral part of our lives."
Whitman will remain on the board of directors.
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