VentureBeat says eBay executives fired PayPal president David Marcus “because his vision for the virtual-payment kingpin wasn’t working out,” a claim that eBay immediately refuted.
In, “Resigned, my ass: PayPal president David Marcus was fired, say eBay, Inc. execs,” VentureBeat cited “a source at eBay with knowledge of the situation.” The first version of its story said “PayPal did not deny Marcus was fired,” and quoted PayPal Senior Director of Global Initiatives Anuj Nayar: “David made a personal career decision to join Facebook. We wish him the very best, and thank him for his leadership and commitment to PayPal over the last three years.”
An updated version used the same quote, but prefaced it by writing, “PayPal denied that Marcus was fired.” The latest version also quotes eBay Inc. Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Marks strenuously denying that Marcus was fired: “”The story is flat out wrong,” Marks said.”
eBay spokesperson Amanda Miller told EcommerceBytes eBay had no comment. A Facebook spokesperson referred us to eBay and pointed to eBay’s denial in the updated VentureBeat article.
Marcus, who officially steps down from PayPal on June 27 for a VP job at Facebook, explained how difficult his two years at PayPal were in a post about his departure, and pointed to his entrepreneurial roots. “I realized that my role was becoming a real management one, vs. my passion of building products that hopefully matter to a lot of people.” And he said the time was right for him to move on to something that was closer to what he loved to do every day. “Now is the time, because I feel that PayPal has never been in a better position to capitalize on its unique place in the market.”
eBay announced Marcus’s departure last week and has yet to name a successor – eBay CEO John Donahoe will be leading PayPal’s day-to-day operations.
