eBay sues Craigslist which it part owns

eBay are reportedly suing Craigslist, the online classified listings site which it owns almost a third of. eBay acquired the share in Craigslist in 2004, but have never taken an active role in managing the company, although they have developed competing sites such as Kijiji and Gumtree.

eBay assert that Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster have taken actions which would dilute their 28.4% stake.

One has to ponder just how welcome eBay’s stakeholding in Craigslist has been. Is it time to sell out and concentrate on eBay’s own classified directories leaving Craigslist to sink or swim on its own?

5 Responses on "eBay sues Craigslist which it part owns"

1. 1
   Store Your Stuff aka Jade says:

   April 23, 2008 at 8:13 am

   talk about cannibilisation
2. 2
   Freddy says:

   April 23, 2008 at 8:40 am

   Apparently, Craig has tried to do this before.

   http://valleywag.com/tech/mythbusting/craig-newmark-filthy-rich-on-ebays-millions-283002.php
3. 3
   Sue Bailey says:

   April 23, 2008 at 12:17 pm

   Craigslist speculates this could be the beginning of a hostile takeover. I wouldn’t be one little bit surprised if they were right.

   (And on the subject of Craigslist’s blog… KUBRICK?! FFS, guys. Get a decent theme )
4. 4
   Freddy says:

   April 23, 2008 at 12:24 pm

   How do you pursue a hostile takeover of a private company? Either the shareholders want to sell or they don’t.
5. 5
   Dan Wilson says:

   April 24, 2008 at 2:14 am

   Freddy:

   When you’ve got 30%, you just got find a 21% more right? Although there aren’t many shareholders, as I understand it.

   And yes, people either want to sell or not… but eBay’s chequebook is pretty big and when you keep adding zeros, it can be persuasive. ;O)