Dive Brief:

• eBay said its CFO Steve Priest will step down May 11 and be replaced by Peggy Alford, a former PayPal Holdings executive, the following day, according to a Wednesday company release. Priest, who left JetBlue Airlines in 2021 to join the e-commerce giant, will stay on in an advisory capacity to help with the transition until July 31. 
• Alford, 53, has most recently served as executive vice president, global sales at the digital payments company PayPal, where she worked from March 2020 to January, according to a securities filing. A CPA who started her career in auditing and consulting at the now defunct Arthur Andersen accounting firm and subsequently spent three years in senior finance roles at eBay, her experience also includes a stint as CFO of a philanthropic fund created by Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, according to her LinkedIn account. 
• The announcement came on the same day the San Jose, California-based company released earnings and said it was making other changes to its leadership structure, which include integrating product and market teams and consolidating engineering into a single organization in order to position itself for growth in an “evolving digital and AI-powered landscape,” the release said.

Dive Insight:

The company reported that net income rose 15% year-over-year to $505 million in the first quarter ended March 31 as revenue rose just 1% over the same period to $2.58 billion. The company’s gross merchandise volume rose for a fourth consecutive quarter, ticking up 1% to $18.8 billion, exceeding its guidance of $18.4 billion to $18.5 billion for the period, according to a Thursday Morningstar report by Senior Equity Analyst Dan Wasiolek.   

eBay is doing well despite challenging macroeconomic headwinds, he wrote. “EBay is seeing uneven demand, as tariff policy creates uncertainty for the platform's sellers and buyers,” Wasiolek wrote in the report. “The company is navigating well amid this challenging landscape, helped by its focus categories, fashion segment, and integration of artificial intelligence.”  

Among the other leadership changes, the company named Jordan Sweetnam chief commercial officer of the newly combined Global Markets and Product group and Mazen Rawashdeh to be chief technology officer of the unified engineering group, the company said. Eddie Garcia, eBay’s chief product officer, will be leaving the company. 

"We're making these changes from a position of strength," Jamie Iannone, chief executive, said in a statement in the release. "Our leadership evolution is about moving with greater speed, deepening collaboration across teams, and continuing to build the capabilities we need for the future. We believe these changes will drive long-term growth and deliver greater impact for our buyers and sellers."

Alford’s compensation package will include a base salary of $850,000 with a target bonus opportunity of 100% of base salary prorated for 2025 and eligibility for annual equity awards starting in 2026 with a grant date target value of $9 million. She will also receive a new-hire equity award of performance-based restricted stock units valued at $5.4 million and an award of restricted stock units valued at $3.6 million. 

Additionally, she will receive a one-time equity “make-good payment” of $3.9 million to be paid within two pay periods after she starts working at eBay and another valued at $2.9 million to be paid in July of 2026, subject to continuing to be employed through that date.  

The company did not respond to a request for comment. Priest is not leaving due to any disagreement with the company or board relating to the companies operations, policies, or practices or any issues regarding its accounting policies and that he will receive severance benefits “as if his employment was terminated by the company without cause,” according to a securities filing.