Has Israel Seen the Last of eBay CEO John Donahoe?

eBay CEO John Donahoe was in Israel last week, according to Globes, where the company has acquired several companies and has operated an R&D center there since 2007.

eBay’s top executive is leaving the company once it breaks up sometime in the coming months. While eBay announced he’ll join the PayPal board of directors after the split, Donahoe has not disclosed his future plans beyond the board appointment.

On his trip, Donahoe attended a dinner with leading Israeli investors and entrepreneurs, a sign he may be using the last months in office to line up connections. Last year, he joined the board of Nike.

Globes said Donahoe also used the trip to visit eBay and PayPal offices in Israel in order to part with the workers personally, and to speak with them briefly about the upcoming split between the companies, and what the future holds.

According to the publication, Donahoe visited the eBay development and sales center in Netanya, the PayPal development and sales center in Tel Aviv, and the PayPal cyber-center in Beersheva.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.