The Genius behind eBay
Stories of successful women continue to inspire and motivate the female population to strive hard and 
succeed in their chosen careers. Gone are the days when women busy themselves with household chores and child rearing while patiently waiting for their husbands to get home. In many respects, women are now regarded to be the equal of men. Their being innately patient, determined, innovative, and creative have allowed them to be successful in the male-dominated world of technology, politics, education, and economy.
One of the most revered and respected self-made female billionaire is Meg Whitman. Meg’s uncanny forecasting skills, man-like courage, and exemplary managerial abilities turned her into one of the highest paid women in corporate America.
Meg Whitman, named as Margaret Cushing Whitman, was born on August 4, 1956 in Long Island, New York. She attended the Cold Spring Harbor High School and earned a Bachelor of Economics degree from Princeton University. There, she was an active member of the student organization, Business Today. In 1979, she received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
After acquiring her MBA, Meg started her career at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her curriculum vitae include working with toymaker Hasbro, wherein she supervised global management and marketing of two of the world’s best-known children’s brands, Playskool and Mr. Potato Head. Meg also held executive positions at the Stride Rite Corporation, a footwear company and at the Walt Disney Company. For eight years, she worked at the San Francisco office of Bain & Company, a consulting firm, slowly rising up as vice president. With the series of posts she held, Meg had been associated with the successful launches of new products as well as the astounding transformation of profitable companies. With all her achievements, Meg is very much known today for her contributions in eBay.
Meg joined eBay when it was a small auction website with only 30 employees and about $4 – $6 million in revenue. eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar, recruited Meg to run his small startup, which he wanted to expand into a large company. Piqued by eBay’s growing community of users and fascinated by the opportunities of the blossoming internet, she accepted his invitation. She assumed the position of director in March 1998. eBay then was at the point of defying major centers, Amazon and Yahoo. Meg utilized her Bain training to enforce regulations. She guided managers to rigorous analytical standards and measurements. This process proved well.
After six months, within the early stages of the internet bubble, Meg took eBay public at an initial market value of $700 million. Today, the company is worth $40 billion, which means shareholders have been the contented beneficiaries of a 5,600% return.
Meg is also known to be a serious risk-taker. In 2002, she paid $1.5 billion for PayPal. The decision was thought to be a disastrous one by her detractors. She proved them wrong. Paypal now brings in some $2 billion revenue a year. She also has a reputation for being a decisive leader who uses a soft touch. She believes in collaboration and can be seen meeting with top executives as well as eBay sellers.
After 10 years of being with eBay, Meg announced her retirement as Chief Executive. She, however, stays as special advisor to the current President and Chief Executive Officer. Meg also serves on the boards of the eBay Foundation, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation.
Meg has definitely proven that she is one company prodigy. She has taken eBay from a 30-person startup to an international behemoth with nearly $6 billion in annual revenue and a stable of Web properties, including Rent.com, Shopping.com, and the internet-telephone service Skype.
At the age of 52, she had been repeatedly ranked among the world’s most influential people by Time magazine and had been ranked 22nd by Forbes 100 most powerful women.
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