EBay CEO clashes with board, steps down

NEW YORK (AP) - Devin Wenig, the CEO of eBay, stepped down over differences with the company's board of directors.

"In the past few weeks it became clear that I was not on the same page as my new Board," Wenig tweeted Wednesday, without elaborating on the disagreements. "Whenever that happens, its best for everyone to turn that page over."

Ebay said there wasn't one factor leading to the change in leadership.

"Both Devin and the Board believe that a new CEO is best for the company at this time," eBay said in a prepared statement.

Ebay, which is facing increasing competition from Amazon and other online stores, has been pressured by activist investor Elliott Management to sell off some of its sites. In March, eBay said it might sell its ticket-reselling site StubHub and its classified ads business to focus on its main online sales site. It also added two new directors to its board chosen by Elliott.

When it was launched more than two decades ago, eBay dominated the online marketplace, giving anyone the chance to sell goods over the internet.

Today, it's competing against, among others, Amazon.com, which posted revenue last year of more than $230 billion. In 2018, eBay had annual revenues of $10.7 billion.

Amazon has said that 58% of the products sold on its site last year came from third-party sellers, the type of businesses that eBay relies on for its sales. Amazon was sued by eBay this year after accusing the company of having eployees attempt to poach sellers from its site.

Wenig also stepped down as director of the board Wednesday. The company said that Chief Financial Officer Scott Schenkel will become the interim chief executive as it seeks a permanent replacement for Wenig, who has been CEO since 2015.

Shares of eBay Inc., which are up 20% in the past year, slipped 1.8%.