Meg Whitman on What's Next After eBay (Part I)

As eBay’s Meg Whitman becomes co-chair of Sen. John McCain’s national campaign, she talks to our Lesley Stahl about retiring from the business world and about her future. The following VII-part, exclusive interview took place on Tuesday, March 11. To read parts II through VII, click the links at the end of the article.

LESLEY: Meg Whitman is retiring after 10 successful – very successful – years as CEO of eBay, which Fortune Magazine said a few years ago was the fastest growing company in history. Faster than Microsoft, Dell or any of them. So now, Meg, you always said – always said – you were going to retire after 10 years. And I’m wondering why. Do you think that all CEOs should do that? Is it kind of like the presidency, kind of a way to cleanse and revitalize the system?

MEG: Well, I wouldn’t be so bold as to say all CEOs should stay only 10 years. But in our industry, the pace of change is so fast, the underlying technology changes so fast, and these companies are growing so fast, that I think 10 years is a good time to step back and say, "Would the company benefit from a fresh set of eyes and new leadership skills?" and "Would it be the right thing to transition to a new leader?"

LESLEY: Now, you also said, repeatedly, that you didn’t want to become a CEO of another company. Does that still hold?

MEG: It does. I think that in all likelihood, this will be my last business job. I can’t imagine a more fun business experience than the one I’ve had in the last 10 years; a more challenging, a more exhilarating business experience than I’ve had. So I think I will … you know, I’m not sure what I will do next. But it will be something that probably doesn’t relate too much to business.

LESLEY: Hmm. Well, I’m going to ask you more about that in a bit. But first, based on what I’ve read and what people say, you were a different kind of CEO. Obviously one suited to the digital world. But you’ve spent a lot of time creating communities on eBay. You ran a collegial kind of administration and you’ve been, some would say, incredibly accessible. And I’m wondering if you think there’s such a thing as a female CEO model? You know, we hear about the male model, but is …

MEG: Right.

LESLEY: … is there a female? And is this it?

MEG: I don’t actually think there is a female model for running companies. I think it is more personality driven than anything else. And I tend to be, as an individual, an accessible person. I like working in groups. I think that one plus one equals four, often if you have the right people in the room. And I like tossing around ideas, coming to a consensus, if we can. But at least hear all points of view and then make a decision. So in some ways I think it’s more personality driven and driven by where you were trained as an executive than it is male or female. So that’s probably what I would say.

LESLEY: Let’s go back to the question about what’s next for Meg Whitman. There are all kinds of stories floating around that you’re interested in politics and that you’ve actually looked into running for governor of California. You did support Mitt Romney. Might you think about going into the government of Washington? Tell us about you and politics.

MEG: OK. Historically, I have not been a very politically active person. I was a wife, a mother and had a full-time job at eBay, and other jobs. So I haven’t been looking for other things to do. But I got drawn into this presidential campaign because of my friend Mitt Romney. You know, I worked for Mitt for almost 10 years, and have known him for 25 years. And he came to see me in the fall of 2006, and said, "I’m thinking about running for president. Would you ever be willing to help?" And I said, "Absolutely I would be willing to help." I had no idea what I was getting into, but I have such enormous respect for Mitt that I jumped in, and was actually one of his national finance co-chairs. I spent a great year with him helping him raise money, doing a little bit of traveling with him. You know, it was sort of my weekend job in many ways. And I liked it very much.

But, I will tell you, I’ve got lots of other things on my plate for the next couple of years. We have a family foundation that I want to spend some time in. It has money and it really doesn’t have the depth of mission statements and vision statements that it really should have. So I want to work on that. I will remain on the eBay board. You know, eBay is my first priority for 2008 in that I want to make sure this transition goes well. I’ll remain on the board and be helpful in any way I can.

LESLEY: But let’s get back to running for governor, or something like that, once you’re past 2008. Are you intrigued by it? Is it something you’ve got on your mind?

MEG: You know, I think I am much more interested in things philanthropic. I am interested in, you know, certainly helping the Republican party as we go into the 2008 election. You know, I’m interested in the environment, interested in education. So I think those are the things I am more interested in at the moment than elective politics.

Editor’s note: It was announced on Friday that Meg is now the co-chair of John McCain’s national campaign. She says she is not doing this in order to get a cabinet position if McCain wins the election.

Meg Whitman: ‘Oh, Gosh. People Put Up Anything You Can Imagine’ (Part II)
Meg Whitman on ‘Security 101’: ‘Consumers Deserve to Know’ (Part III)
Meg Whitman: ‘I Think It’s Better, but We’ve Got a Long Way to Go’ (Part IV)
Meg Whitman: ‘We Took Turns Sabotaging Each Others’ Careers’ (Part V)
Meg Whitman: ‘Glam, She’s Not?’ (Part VI)
Meg Whitman on Running a Household and Thoughts on the Economy (Part VII)