PayPal Jeff Jordan to Leave as Part of eBay Management Shakeup

eBay issued a press release in the middle of the night to announce a major management shakeup, including the departure of PayPal President Jeff Jordan in the Fall. Jordan is leaving to spend more time with his family. eBay's press release referred to Jordan's leaving as a planned departure and stated that the management changes "will help the company leverage the expertise of top executives and further eBay's efforts to build synergies among its brands."

Skype President Rajiv Dutta will replace Jordan as President of PayPal. Dutta has been with eBay since 1998 and served as eBay's Chief Financial Officer and head of strategy from 2001 through 2005.
Alex Kazim, Skype Vice President of Products, will assume the role of President of Skype, reporting to Skype CEO and founder Niklas Zennstrom. Kazim, formerly Senior Vice President of new ventures at eBay, has held leadership positions in all of eBay's businesses and was responsible for launching eBay's international classifieds sites, Kijiji.
Shopping.com President and CEO Lorrie Norrington will become President of eBay International, effective immediately.

Norrington replaces Matt Bannick who, as previously announced, will spearhead eBay's initiatives in corporate philanthropy and the developing world.
Shopping.com Vice President of Products Josh Silverman will assume day-to-day operations at Shopping.com as General Manager. Silverman has held a variety of management positions at eBay, including Vice President for eBay Netherlands and Marktplaats.nl. Before joining eBay, Silverman was a co-founder and CEO of Evite.

Henry Gomez, currently General Manager of Skype North America, will become Chief Marketing Officer and Director of Country Operations Worldwide for Skype, a newly created role. Don Albert, Director of Business Development for Skype North America, will replace Gomez as General Manager of Skype North America.

PayPal's Jeff Jordan, who joined eBay in 1999, was considered by many as a possible successor to eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman. Jordan led eBay North America from 2000 through 2004 and was named President of PayPal in December 2004.

Whitman said, "Jeff has had a long and successful career at PayPal and eBay, building two of the most powerful ecommerce and payment brands on the Internet. Jeff's been a valued colleague and close friend, and while I'm sorry to see him go, I wish him the very best."

The last 18 months have seen a great deal of executive movement at eBay, especially following the acquisition of Skype last year. Previously, eBay announced that Chief Operating Officer Maynard Webb would retire in August 2006, and eBay said it had no plans to fill his role.

Marty Abbott, eBay's Senior Vice President of Technology, and Lynn Reedy, CTO of eBay Marketplaces Product & Technology, left the company last year, and Michael Dearing, Senior Vice President, left eBay last month.