Off the Charts: eBay
Web Editor, "Mad Money"
Mad Money’s Wall of Shame has been a major theme on the show recently. Cramer has some spots to fill, and he had asked viewers to send suggestions. One person e-mailed to tell us that online discussion boards are filled with complaints about eBay CEO John Donahoe. But is that enough to warrant induction into this elite group of hapless bosses?
Cramer doesn’t think so. Poor user experience doesn’t necessitate dishonoring the CEO. At least not from a shareholder’s perspective. eBay the stock can turn around just fine without the complete satisfaction of the Internet’s virtual auctioneers. (That’s not to say that Donahoe isn’t taking steps to improve his company – he is.)
Besides, while the stock is down 40% since Donahoe took over on March 31, 2008 – compare that to the S&P 500’s 29% decline over the same period – he inherited a world of problems from his predecessor, Meg Whitman. So the fault doesn’t entirely lie with him.
More importantly, though, Donahoe is still young in his tenure, so his leaving might do more to hurt the company than help it. That, of course, would send the stock lower, which is enough to save the CEO from gracing the Wall of Shame.
But what do the big money managers say? Do they think eBay is a buy? After all, these are the guys who drive the markets and set stock prices. And does Cramer agree? That was the subject of this week’s Off the Charts segment. Watch the video for the full report.
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