Devin Wenig

Devin Norse Wenig (born 1966)[1] is an American business executive. From July 2015 to September 2019, Wenig was president and CEO of eBay. From April 2008 to August 2011, Wenig was CEO of Thomson Reuters Markets, the financial and media businesses of Thomson Reuters Corporation.

Devin Wenig
Devin Wenig
Born
Devin Norse Wenig

1966 (age 54–55)
Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, US
NationalityAmerican
EducationUnion College (BA)
Columbia Law School (JD)
OccupationBusiness executive
TitleFormer CEO, eBay
TermJuly 2015 - September 2019
PredecessorJohn Donahoe
SuccessorScott Schenkel (interim)
Jamie Iannone
Board member ofGeneral Motors (2018-)
eBay (2011–2019)
Reuters (2006–11)
Spouse(s)Cindy Lee Horowitz

He is a director of General Motors and its subsidiary Cruise Automation, an autonomous vehicle company.[2]

Early life

Devin Norse Wenig was born in Brooklyn, New York,[3] the son of Carol Wenig and Jeffrey Wenig, a toxicologist, and founder and chief executive of Nastech Pharmaceutical Company of Hauppauge, Long Island.[4]

Wenig earned a bachelor's degree from Union College, and a JD degree from Columbia University School of Law.[5]

Career

At age 23, following his father's unexpected death, Wenig took over as CEO of then-struggling Nastech Pharmaceutical, raising $5 million in venture capital. After a year as CEO, he recruited a healthcare CEO and joined the law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore.[3]

In 1993, Wenig joined Reuters, where he remained until 2011, becoming the company's no. 2 executive.[3] From June 2006 to April 2008, Wenig was COO and a board member of Reuters Group plc. He assisted with the merger of Reuters Group with the Thomson Corporation, and then from April 2008 to August 2011, Wenig was CEO of Thomson Reuters Markets.[1]

Wenig joined as president of eBay's global marketplaces business in September 2011.[5] When Wenig joined eBay, it had 99 million active users. During his time as marketplace chief, this rose to nearly 160 million, by focusing on "m-commerce", shopping on mobile devices.[6] In October 2014, it was announced that once the eBay/PayPal demerger was complete, Wenig would become CEO of eBay, replacing John Donahoe.[7] Wenig took over as CEO in July 2015 after eBay spun off PayPal.[6]

In April 2018, he was elected to the General Motors' board of directors.[8]

In September 2019, Wenig unexpectedly stood down as CEO of eBay, "amid pressure from activist investors to break the company apart", and was immediately succeeded as interim CEO by Scott Schenkel, eBay's CFO.[9] He received a $57 million golden parachute package.[10]

Cyberstalking incident
Main article: eBay stalking scandal

A cyberstalking and harassment campaign against the owners of the online newsletter, ECommerceBytes, occurred in 2019. This eventually led to charges against seven members of eBay's global security team. The harassment began after an article was published in ECommerceBytes about eBay's litigation against Amazon. Wenig texted a communications executive "If you are ever going to take her [ECommerceBytes writer Ina Steiner] down... now is the time." A subsequent cyberstalking and harassment campaign against the newsletter's authors led to charges against seven members of eBay's global security team. Wenig is not charged in the case.[11][12][13]

In September 2019, Wenig announced that he would step down as CEO, and leave eBay.[14][15]

Recognition

In 2019, Wenig was ranked #100 in a Forbes list of America's 100 most innovative leaders.[16][17] He was ranked eighth in Retail Info Systems' 2017 list of "Retail's 10 Best CEOs".[18]

Personal life

On 28 March 1993, Wenig married Cindy Lee Horowitz, a lawyer, and fellow graduate of Columbia University School of Law in a ceremony at the Huntington (Long Island) Jewish Center.[4]

References
  1. "Devin Wenig". Forbes. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  2. "eBay CEO Devin Wenig Elected to GM Board of Directors". media.gm.com. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  3. "Where is Devin Wenig now?". Crains. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  4. "WEDDINGS; Cindy Horowitz, Devin Wenig". NYT. 29 March 1993. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  5. "Devin N. Wenig". Businessweek. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  6. "For eBay, a new chapter begins". Fortune.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  7. Bensinger, Greg (3 October 2014). "EBay's PayPal Spin Off to Be Costly in Compensation for Executives". WSJ. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  8. "eBay CEO Devin Wenig Elected to GM Board of Directors". GM Corporate News Room. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  9. Schuetz, Molly; Soper, Spencer (25 September 2019). "EBay CEO Devin Wenig Steps Down in Ongoing Operating Review". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  10. Pressman, Aaron (16 June 2020). "eBay's former CEO is getting off too easily in its ugly cyberstalking scandal". Fortune. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. Durkin Richer, Alanna (15 June 2020). "Feds: eBay staff sent spiders, roaches to harass couple". Associated Press.
  12. Heater, Brian (June 15, 2020). "US attorney details eBay employees' harassment campaign, including live roaches and a pig foetus". TechCrunch.
  13. Streitfeld, David (26 September 2020). "Inside eBay's Cockroach Cult: The Ghastly Story of a Stalking Scandal". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  14. "Devin Wenig steps down as eBay CEO". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  15. "EBay CEO Devin Wenig, at odds with the board, steps down". Los Angeles Times. 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  16. "America's Most Innovative Leaders". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  17. "Devin Wenig". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  18. "Retail's 10 Best CEOs". RIS News. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
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