Activist investor Carl Icahn is demanding a review of eBay Inc's records on its sale of Skype, reiterating his view that eBay board member Marc Andreessen had conflicts of interest, while eBay called Icahn's criticisms "false and misleading."
In an open letter to shareholders on Monday, Icahn accused Andreessen of conflicts that “are clear and insurmountable, necessitating, in his view, the review.
Icahn, who has a 2.15% stake in eBay and has called for the e-commerce giant to spin off its fast-growing PayPal payments business, has publicly feuded with the company in recent weeks over eBay's 2009 sale of a majority stake in Skype to private investors.
Icahn said that Andreessen, whose venture capital firm was one of the investors in the group to which eBay sold its majority stake in Skype for $1.9 billion U.S., subsequently benefited from the group's sale of the online phone service in 2011 to Microsoft for $8.5 billion U.S.
Icahn said in a letter on February 24 that, as a board member, Andreessen had been exposed to nonpublic eBay information while investing in and advising five eBay competitors.
In spite of – or, perhaps, BECAUSE of – the controversy, eBay shares began Tuesday up 59 cents, or 1%, to $58.90, in a 52-week range of $48.06 U.S. to $59.70 U.S.
