Whitman expected to retire from EBay

John Donahoe, the 47-year-old president of EBay's Marketplaces group, is the leading contender to succeed Whitman, according to people familiar with the matter. He has been widely viewed as the CEO-in-waiting since Whitman recruited him from management firm Bain & Co. in 2005 to run the group, which includes auctions.

The San Jose company, which declined to comment on speculation about Whitman's departure, could announce her retirement and the succession plan during its fourth-quarter earnings report today.

If so, it will mark the end of a remarkable chapter for Whitman, who is one of the Internet industry's longest-tenured CEOs and ranks among the nation's most powerful women executives. She joined EBay in 1998, shortly before the company's blockbuster initial public offering, when the company had 30 employees and just over $47 million in annual revenue.

Today it employs 15,000 people, has 248 million global registered users and is expected to report at least $7.6 billion in 2007 revenue.

Pierre Omidyar founded EBay in 1995 as a virtual flea market where people could sell collectibles such as Beanie Babies to the highest bidder. Under Whitman, EBay flourished as one of the Web's top destinations, where people from far-flung places went to easily and efficiently buy and sell all kinds of merchandise via the Internet.

"Meg did a stellar job in growing and leading EBay, no matter how you measure it," said Ellen Siminoff, CEO of search engine marketing firm Efficient Frontier and a founding executive of Yahoo Inc.

Whitman, who would be leaving on her own terms, gets high marks for her leadership even as the company faces a crucial crossroads.

EBay has experienced slowing growth in its auction business amid rising competition from retailer Amazon.com Inc. and search giant Google Inc. Some analysts have also been sharply critical of the $2.6-billion purchase of online telephone service Skype, which led to a major write-down last year.