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Activist investor Carl Icahn poured the pressure on eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) Thursday in his third scathing open letter to eBay shareholders.
In what has become a wicked war of words between the corporate raider and the online auction and shopping site, Icahn continued to press eBay to spin off its electronic payment arm PayPal, maintaining the unit is worth more as a standalone.
The billionaire investor also wants the San Jose, Calif.-company to overhaul its corporate board. Icahn, who holds a 2.2% stake in eBay, continued to reproach the company for a "complete disregard of accountability" and took further jabs at board members.
Icahn, serious and impatient, also challenged eBay's board to "an honest, accurate debate."
Objections to eBay board members heated up as Icahn questioned the future direction of eBay.
Icahn claims Scott Cook, founder, former chief executive officer, and current board member of Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), the maker of TurboTax and other business and personal financial software, has business interests that present a direct conflict of interest.
"Having Mr. Cook on the board while planning PayPal's future is akin to having Pete Carroll, coach of the Seattle Seahawks, sitting in when the Denver Broncos were constructing their game plan for the Super Bowl (then again, maybe he did)," Icahn said earlier this month.
Additionally, Icahn objects to venture capitalist Marc Andreessen's eBay board post. Andreessen is a director on seven boards, including Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ).
In Thursday's message, Icahn reiterated he has found multiple lapses in eBay's corporate governance. He is calling for Andreessen and Scott to resign from eBay's board and urges investors to vote for two of his employees for seats on eBay's board.
The sentiment in Icahn's latest letter mirrors his tone in the previous two. Last week he wrote the following criticism: