In a recent issue of The Economist, eBay CEO Meg Whitman is taken to task for the recent $1.4 “impairment write-down” related to the acquisition of Skype. Just two years after forking over the massive sum of $2.6 billion to buy the internet phone company, eBay has written off more than half the sum.
But The Economist doesn’t stop there. It quotes Ms. Whitman’s own lessons of good business judgment: first, to pay attention to details; second, in the world of the internet, to bid early, boldly and pre-emptively high; and third, that “the price of inaction is far greater than the cost of a mistake.” Good in theory, perhaps, but together they led eBay to make a blunder with Skype – bidding early, boldly, but it turns out, excessively, to the tune of $1.4 billion. Quite a price to pay for slavishly following principles.
