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Silicon Valley gave us Apple, Intel, eBay.
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APPLE WAS
FOUNDED WHILE JERRY BROWN WAS GOVERNOR. Steve Jobs chose to start
Apple in California in 1976, while Jerry Brown was Governor. [Apple.com, Steve Jobs bio, accessed 8/25/10]
AT LEAST 8
FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES WERE FOUNDED IN CALIFORNIA
DURING BROWN'S
GOVERNORSHIP. At least eight
Fortune 500 companies started in California when Jerry Brown was governor -
Apple Inc., Oracle, Amgen, Symantec, Synnex, Ingram Micro (a successor of
Micro D), Sanmina-SCI, and Electronic Arts.
Sun Microsystems, a 2009
Fortune 500 company, was also launched in California
during Jerry's governorship and was purchased by Oracle in 2009. [Fortune Magazine: The Fortune 500 2010, accessed 7/5/2010;
Apple.com; Oracle.com; Amgen.com; Symantec.com; Synnex.com; IngramMicro.com;
Sanmina-SCI.com; EA.com; CNet, 1/27/2010]
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Here, Meg Whitman started with 30 people, led them, managed
them.
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MEG'S STYLE OF
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT INCLUDES ASSAULTING EMPLOYEES. In 2007,
Whitman assaulted a subordinate at eBay, resulting in a reportedly $200,000
secret settlement paid for by the company.
Meg's idea of leadership meant a $200,000 hit to the company's
shareholders. [New York Times, 6/14/10]
WHITMAN'S CLAIMS
OF 30 PEOPLE HAVE HOLES: HOW MANY WERE THERE REALLY? According to
Adam Cohen's book, The Perfect Store:
Inside eBay, Cohen notes there were at least 36 employees before
Whitman even interviewed for the job. [Adam
Cohen, The Perfect Store: Inside eBay,
pp. 84, 85, 89, 115, 123, 122, (2002)]
According to Randall Stross' book, eBoys: The First Inside
Account of Venture Capitalists at Work, there were at least 35 employees when
Meg arrived at eBay. "Against the advice of her boss, her colleagues, her
friends, everyone on the East Coast that she knew, Meg Whitman decided to
take the leap and join a thirty-five-person company no one she knew had heard
of." [Randall E. Stross, eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture
Capitalists at Work, p. 60, (2000)]
eBay's own 1998 prospectus says, "The Company's total
headcount grew to 41 by December 31, 1997 and to 76 by June 30, 1998." [eBay, Inc., Form 424B4 Prospectus, filed 9/25/98]
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Executed the plan that grew this main street company to
15,000 employees and made small business dreams come true.
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"SMALL BUSINESS"
FEATURED IN AD ISN'T A CALIFORNIA BUSINESS. EasySale, an eBay
consignment seller, is located in Arlington, Texas. [EasySale, accessed 8/25/10]
EASYSALE NOT
REGISTERED TO DO BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA. EasySale, the business
highlighted in Whitman's ad, isn't registered with the California Secretary
of State to do business in California.
The company was formed and is registered to do business in Texas. [California Secretary of
State, accessed 8/25/10; EasySale, Inc. Certificate of Formation, Texas
Secretary of State, filed 3/4/09]
EBAY UNDER
WHITMAN CHOKED SMALL BUSINESSES WITH EVER-RISING FEES. Whitman boasts
that she helped build small businesses at eBay. But what she doesn't talk about is that
eBay continually raised fees on their small sellers to generate profits. "'For
a long period of time, eBay generated revenue growth by raising fees on
sellers,' said Scot Wingo, the founder of Channel Advisor, which helps small
businesses sell on the Internet. 'Now everyone is starting to realize that
was unsustainable.'" [New
York Times, 2/22/09]
WHITMAN 'JACKED
UP FEES' ON EBAY SELLERS. "Sellers also complain that, under pressure
to meet Wall Street expectations, eBay under Whitman repeatedly jacked up
fees, driving off many sellers and making the site far less profitable for
others."
[San
Jose Mercury News, 10/4/09]
APPARENTLY MAIN
STREET IS LONG ENOUGH TO REQUIRE $3 MILLION IN PERSONAL JET TRAVEL.
While CEO of eBay Whitman's personal jet use cost shareholders $3.3 million,
including more than $1 million in 2006 alone, which "flabbergasted" one
analyst. The personal jet use was
called an "extravagant perk." [eBay Inc., SEC
DEF 14A filings; The Street, 9/30/09]
COMPENSATION AT EBAY SKYROCKETED TO MORE THAN $120
MILLION IN FINAL YEAR, STOCK TANKED. Whitman went from earning $294,455 in 1999, eBay's first full year
as a public company, to walking away with more than $120 million when stepping
down as eBay CEO in 2008. [eBay Inc.,
SEC DEF 14A, 4/19/00; Forbes, 9/10/08]
As
Whitman's compensation soared over her final years at eBay, the stock price
fell by 49% from a high of $58.89 on December 30, 2004 to $29.84 on March 31,
2008 when Whitman stepped down as CEO. [Nasdaq
Stock Charts, accessed 7/26/10]
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