Path to Power
Whitman isn’t cut from the same cloth as other Silicon Valley billionaires as she never grew up a tech-obsessed genius like Microsoft creator Bill Gates or Apple CEO Steve Jobs. But she used her likeability and intelligence to climb the corporate ladder, and courageousness to tackle tasks that outsiders thought imprudent.
Born in Oyster Bay, N.Y., Whitman learned business from her father and life skills from her mother. At age six she joined a three-month camping trip from New York to Alaska with her mother, two siblings and a family friend that also had five children. When the children began to squabble, Whitman’s mother had the kids run outside as the camper they drove slowly followed. Truckers who saw the sight often stopped to ensure that everything was copasetic. “You could always hear the hiss of the air brakes,” said Whitman. “We finally put up a sign on the back of the camper that said, 'We're O.K.'”
Whitman graduated high school in three years before moving to Princeton University. After graduating with an economics degree, Whitman attended Harvard University for her MBA. She worked a quick stint at Proctor & Gamble before Mitt Romney hired her as a consultant for Bain & Co. She stayedat Bain for eight years, working closely with Romney, who would go on to become Massachusetts governor and 2008 presidential candidate.
After Whitman left Bain she jumped around from vice president of marketing at Disney to president of Stride Rite, where she turned around the struggling Keds shoe brand. In 1995, Whitman got her first CEO position at Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD) — the cooperative of flower dealers. Fruitlessly, she struggled to create market growth by combining the loose federation of florists into one unified organization.
She soon moved to Hasbro Inc. to amuse herself in the toy business. There, she headed the global marketing and management of the Mr. Potato Head brand and Playskool.
EBay
In 1998, Whitman got a call from the niche auction house Web site eBay asking her to join as its CEO. When Whitman first heard the offer, she declined. But after a trip to San Jose, Calif., to see the eBay offices, she saw how addicted some of the customers were to the site and changed her mind. ''I thought something was very right here,'' Whitman said. ''They had touched a consumer nerve.''
EBay was set to go public in September 1998, and Whitman’s job was to handle the offering. Prior to the initial public offering, eBay was valued at $700 million dollars. Less than 10 months later, the company had a market capitalization of over $22 billion with a rise of over 1,000% in its stock price while Whitman had become a billionaire and a celebrity. “That's what I hate,” Whitman said, responding to the New York Times in 1999 about her celebrity status. “I even have the furniture man noticing me.”
Whitman didn’t necessarily understand the ins-and-outs of eBay’s technology. As CEO, she worried more about developing corporate structure, cutting costs and capitalizing on the auction fees eBay earns for every piece sold. She pushed for the purchase of PayPal, which turned out to be a very savvy move. Whitman also guided eBay through the tumultuous downturn experienced by Silicon Valley companies in 2000 and 2001 when the tech-bubble burst.
Skype
In early 2005, eBay’s year-to-year revenue growth dipped below 50 percent for the first time. Investors feared this was the end of eBay’s incredible growth. Whitman began searching for another steady revenue stream and to diversify the auction house’s holdings. She threw a Hail Mary, and purchased free, online telephone company Skype for nearly $2.6 billion. EBay argued this would be a way for customers looking for items on eBay to speak to the seller, thus creating a more harmonious marketplace. Investors didn’t agree.
EBay has never been able to figure out how to monetize Skype, and in 2007 eBay had to write-down by $1.4 billion its purchase of Skype. Whitman has always admitted when she makes a mistake, and she has been quick to move past the fumble.
2010 Gubernatorial Race
Whitman already faces a crowded field for the open gubernatorial seat in 2010. On the GOP side, Steve Poizner is the current state insurance commissioner and founder of SnapTrack, which put GPS technology into cell phones, and ex-Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Calif.), a moderate former Silicon Valley lawmaker. Democratic candidates include state Attorney General Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Possible Democratic candidates are Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and maybe even Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
