Devin Wenig

Devin Wenig
Wenig in 2015
Devin Wenig
Born	Devin Norse Wenig 1966
Birthplace	Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive
Title	Former CEO, eBay
Known for	President and CEO of eBay (2015–2019); CEO of Thomson Reuters Markets (2008–2011)
Education	Columbia Law School (JD)
Spouse(s)	Cindy Lee Horowitz

Devin Norse Wenig (born 1966) is an American business executive who served as the president and chief executive officer of eBay Inc. from July 2015 to September 2019. Before leading one of the world's largest online marketplaces, Wenig spent over a decade at Thomson Reuters, where he rose to become CEO of the company's Markets division, overseeing its financial and media businesses. Born in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Wenig built a career that spanned law, media, financial information services, and e-commerce. His tenure at eBay was marked by efforts to modernize the platform and compete with dominant rivals such as Amazon, but his departure in 2019 came amid a strategic review pushed by activist investors. His name subsequently became linked to a cyberstalking scandal involving former eBay employees who targeted the publishers of an e-commerce newsletter, a matter that has resulted in criminal convictions and an ongoing civil lawsuit in which Wenig remains a named defendant. Since leaving eBay, Wenig has served on the board of directors of General Motors and has pursued ventures in the technology sector.

Early Life

Devin Norse Wenig was born in 1966 in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City. Details regarding his parents and childhood upbringing are limited in publicly available sources. He grew up in the New York metropolitan area, an environment that would later shape his career trajectory in media, finance, and technology.

Education

Wenig attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently enrolled at Columbia Law School in New York City, where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree. His legal education provided the foundation for his early career in corporate law before he transitioned into business leadership roles in the media and technology sectors.

Career

Early Career and Reuters

After completing his legal education at Columbia Law School, Wenig entered the corporate world. He joined Reuters, the international news and financial information company, where he would spend a significant portion of his career. At Reuters, Wenig held a series of leadership positions that gave him broad experience across the company's media and financial information businesses. He served on the board of Reuters from 2006 to 2011.

Wenig's rise through the ranks at Reuters was recognized early in his career. In 2005, he was named to Crain's New York Business "40 Under 40" list, which highlighted emerging business leaders in the New York area.

Thomson Reuters Markets

Following the merger of Thomson Corporation and Reuters in 2008, Wenig was appointed CEO of Thomson Reuters Markets, the division responsible for the combined company's financial and media operations. He served in this role from April 2008 to August 2011. In this capacity, Wenig oversaw a substantial business unit within one of the world's largest providers of financial data and information services. The Thomson Reuters Markets division served financial professionals globally and represented a core component of the combined entity's revenue. Wenig's leadership during this period involved integrating operations from the two legacy companies and navigating the financial services industry through the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

eBay

Joining eBay and Rise to CEO

Wenig joined eBay and became a member of its board of directors in 2011. At eBay, he initially served in senior operational roles, gaining experience with the company's marketplace business as the company navigated significant strategic decisions, including the separation of its PayPal subsidiary.

In 2014, eBay announced plans to spin off PayPal as an independent publicly traded company, a move that would reshape both entities. The separation, which was completed in July 2015, involved significant executive compensation arrangements. Upon the completion of the PayPal spin-off in July 2015, Wenig was named president and CEO of the newly independent eBay Inc., succeeding John Donahoe, who had led the combined eBay-PayPal entity.

Tenure as CEO

As CEO, Wenig was tasked with revitalizing eBay's core marketplace business in an increasingly competitive e-commerce landscape dominated by Amazon and other large retailers. He pursued a strategy focused on improving the user experience, leveraging structured data and technology to make the platform more modern and relevant, and attracting new buyers and sellers. In a 2019 interview with CNBC, Wenig discussed eBay's growth strategies and the competitive pressures facing the company in the e-commerce sector.

During Wenig's tenure, eBay faced pressure from activist investors, including Elliott Management and Starboard Value, who acquired significant stakes in the company and pushed for strategic changes. The activists advocated for various measures to unlock shareholder value, including the potential sale of eBay's classified ads business and its StubHub ticketing platform.

Wenig was recognized during his time as eBay CEO for his leadership. He appeared on Forbes list of the World's Most Innovative Leaders and was named among retail's ten best CEOs by RIS News.

Departure from eBay

On September 25, 2019, eBay announced that Wenig had stepped down as president, CEO, and a member of the board of directors. The company stated that Wenig's departure came after he and the board "disagreed on how best to move forward" during an ongoing strategic and operating review. The review had been initiated earlier in 2019 in response to pressure from activist shareholders. Scott Schenkel, eBay's chief financial officer, was named interim CEO. Jamie Iannone was subsequently appointed as the company's permanent CEO.

Post-eBay Career

After leaving eBay, Wenig has continued to be active in the business and technology sectors. He has served on the board of directors of General Motors since April 2018, a position he was appointed to while still serving as eBay's CEO. He also serves as a director of Cruise Automation, General Motors' autonomous vehicle subsidiary.

In 2021, Wenig was announced as a member of the Salesforce Global Advisory Board, joining a group of business leaders advising the cloud computing company on international growth strategy.

Reports in 2025 indicated that Wenig was involved with an AI-based journalism platform startup, reflecting his continued interest in the intersection of technology and media, a theme consistent with his earlier career at Reuters and Thomson Reuters.

eBay Cyberstalking Scandal

In June 2020, the United States Department of Justice announced criminal charges against six former eBay employees in connection with a cyberstalking and harassment campaign targeting Ina and David Steiner, the publishers of EcommerceBytes, an online newsletter covering the e-commerce industry. According to prosecutors, the harassment campaign occurred in 2019, during Wenig's tenure as CEO, and involved former members of eBay's security and communications teams sending the couple threatening anonymous messages, deliveries of live cockroaches, a pig fetus, a funeral wreath, and a book on surviving the loss of a spouse, among other disturbing items. Some of the former employees also allegedly conducted surveillance of the couple near their home in Natick, Massachusetts.

The Associated Press reported on the criminal proceedings, which resulted in guilty pleas and convictions for several of the former employees. eBay issued a statement regarding the indictments of the previously terminated employees, expressing that the conduct was "completely contrary to the company's values."

While Wenig was not criminally charged in the case, he has been a named defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the Steiners. The New York Times and other outlets reported on text messages exchanged between Wenig and other eBay executives that were entered into evidence, which some observers suggested indicated awareness of efforts to address the Steiners' critical coverage, though Wenig has denied knowledge of or involvement in the illegal harassment. In a statement provided to 60 Minutes in August 2023, Wenig addressed the matter, with CBS News publishing his statement alongside its reporting on the scandal.

In a July 2021 interview, the Steiners publicly recounted their experience for the first time in detail, describing the impact the harassment campaign had on their lives.

Fortune published commentary in 2020 questioning whether sufficient accountability had been established at the executive level in connection with the scandal.

The civil lawsuit has continued through the courts. In August 2025, a judge issued a summary judgment ruling that left key claims intact, clearing the way for the case to proceed to trial. The ruling meant that eBay and several former executives, including Wenig, remained defendants in the civil action. In September 2025, attorneys for the former executives, including Wenig, former communications chief Steve Wymer, and former chief of staff Steve Jones, moved to split the trial, seeking to separate their proceedings from those of eBay and the criminally convicted former employees.

As of late 2025, the civil trial had been postponed and rescheduled to March 2026, a delay that drew criticism from the Steiners, who characterized it as a further denial of justice.

Personal Life

Wenig married Cindy Lee Horowitz on March 28, 1993. The wedding was reported by The New York Times in its wedding announcements section. Wenig has resided in the San Francisco Bay Area during his time leading eBay and has maintained connections to the New York business community stemming from his years at Reuters and Thomson Reuters.

Recognition

Throughout his career, Wenig has received a number of professional recognitions. In 2005, he was named to the Crain's New York Business "40 Under 40" list, which identified forty business leaders under the age of forty who were making significant contributions to the New York business landscape.

During his tenure at eBay, Wenig appeared on the Forbes list of the World's Most Innovative Leaders, a ranking that assessed chief executives across industries for their impact on innovation. He was also named one of retail's ten best CEOs by RIS News, a trade publication covering retail technology and strategy.

His appointment to the General Motors board of directors in April 2018 reflected his standing in the corporate governance community, as GM cited his technology and business leadership experience as assets for the automaker's board during a period of transformation in the automotive industry toward electric and autonomous vehicles.