Posted on 01/24/2008 5:54:32 PM PST by BurbankKarl
As she prepares to depart from EBay after a decade at the helm, Chief Executive Meg Whitman appears to be investigating a new career -- in politics.
Whitman has talked with top Republicans about the possibility of a run for California governor in 2010, according to three operatives who have had discussions with her. Whitman is said to be asking detailed questions about the logistics of a run and the impact she could have as governor, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations.
Whitman did not make herself available for comment. A source close to her said she had been talking with Republicans around the state and had become "fascinated" by politics in her work as a fundraiser for GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and a former colleague of Whitman at the consulting firm Bain & Company.
The source close to Whitman, however, downplayed the seriousness of the conversations, saying that Whitman was still new to politics and that California Republicans, not Whitman, were the ones driving the discussion.
"This thing has come to her," the source said. "She hasn't given it all that much thought. It's not, 'I'm going to run. Give me a game plan.' "
Last September, Whitman switched her party registration from "decline to state" to Republican, according to records in San Mateo County, where she lives. The source close to Whitman said she had made the change so she could vote for Romney in the Feb. 5 Republican primary, which is closed to independents this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
She hasn’t talked to me yet BK so I don’t think she is series...
The richest man in post colonial America was George Washington, one of the richest men in Rome was Julius Caesar. Nothing new under the sun.
Most of us just sit on the sidelines and complain. Donate a little here and there, volunteer from time to time, and complain some more. It gets frustrating. I understand completely the impulse to get up out of the cheap seats and get into the game.
People who have enjoyed considerable professional success tend to be high-energy types with abundant self-confidence. Plus they have the advantages of time, money, and substantial, already-established support networks. It's natural that they would want to get involved.
That said, businessmen usually don't do well. This is unfortunate. Our politics is dominated by lawyers and/or professional pols who have done nothing but seek office since they ran for hall monitor in third grade. I have nothing against the occasional lawyer in politics but we badly need to broaden the recruitment pool.
No, she just helped take it public for them.
Yes it grew when she was there. Whether she is responsible for much of that growth is debatable.
Yeah, and GE grew while Jack Welch was CEO. I suppose you'll say it's debatable if he was responsible for that growth, too. She came onboard when ebay was a disorganized blip on the internet and built it into a company that does $7.6 billion in business. Arguable the largest, most profitable all-internet company going. And you don't think any of that was due to her?
But in the process of trying to milk it for all its worth she’s damaged it as well. eBay isn’t what it use to be. I’ve been using it for 10 years and purchased over $100k through them. Those days are over.
Well that's the business strategy today. Build value for your investors regardless of what it does to your customers because if you're big enough new customers will come along. And if business goes south you can always lay people off. By the standards of business today she's a genius and has done an incredible job.
If she runs the state like eBay, on some days your house will be frozen. Other days you won’t be able to get in. Sometimes you won’t be allowed paint the trim, change a door or patch a leaky roof. And if you’re really unlucky, your house could be lost.
What the #$*I%&! is wrong with the GOP? Who will they try to recruit next? Hannah Montana?
I’m just cranky that the once great resource of eBay isn’t what it use to be.
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