John Donahoe served as president and chief executive officer of eBay Inc. from 2008-2015. In this role, he was responsible for growing each of the company’s business units, which included eBay Marketplaces, PayPal and Skype. Donahoe came to eBay in February 2005 as president of eBay Marketplaces, responsible for all elements of eBay’s global ecommerce businesses.
Donahoe focused on expanding eBay’s core business, which accounts for a large percentage of the company’s revenues. He also oversaw a number of strategic acquisitions, including Shopping.com and StubHub, and classifieds sites, such as Gumtree and LoQUo. During the three years he served as President of Marketplaces, revenues and profits for this division doubled.
Prior to eBay, Donahoe spent more than 20 years at Bain & Co., a worldwide consulting firm based in Boston. Starting as an associate consultant, Donahoe rose to become the firm’s chief executive, where he oversaw Bain’s 30 offices and 3,000 employees. In addition to serving on eBay’s board of directors, Donahoe also is on the board of trustees of Dartmouth College.
Donahoe received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“The people that win sustainably over time are the people that not only have the talent, but the shared commitment towards how they win, how they operate as a team, and buy into the full program.”
In This Episode:
- Notion of servant leadership
- Being a purpose driven leader
- Growing from adversity
- Figuring out what’s right for you
- The right fit – team ethos
- Facing down fear
- How success in team sports and business aren’t so different
- Emulating his father
- Balancing his professional and personal life
- Qualities of those who sustain success over time
- The importance of grit
- The constant process of understanding who he is
- Meditation and why “Buddha Nature” is important to him
