Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman will announce today that she’s running for California governor. That’s according to BettyConfidential.com CEO Deborah Perry Piscione, who spoke to Whitman over the weekend.

"She realizes her greatest strength is her knowledge of the economy and her strong business background," said Piscione. "She is very realistic and down-to-earth. She wants to help in practical ways to solve the problems real people are having right now."

Term limits bar California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from running for a third term in 2010 and reports have been piling up since January that Whitman was seriously considering a run.

Those rumors were further inflamed when Whitman resigned from myriad corporate boards, possibly in preparation for her big upcoming political announcement. Whitman, who was ranked No. 361 on Forbes’s 2007 list of the richest Americans, with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion, undoubtedly could be a fund-raising force to be reckoned with should she decide to go for the state’s highest seat.  

Whitman, 52, left eBay and became a major fund-raising organizer for Republican presidential primary candidate Mitt Romney. She later became national co-chair of John McCain’s campaign after Romney dropped out of the race. She was a speaker at the Republican National Convention last summer, as well. She is married to neurosurgeon Dr. Griffith R. Harsh IV, and has two college-age sons. "She really has been an exceptional role model for women throughout her career, successfully balancing family and work," Piscione said. "Obviously, she is up to the challenge of California politics."

Click here to read the entire BettyConfidential story.

Click here to read wOw’s 2008 interview with Whitman on life after eBay.