Ebay CEO bids for Arnie's job

EBAY'S CEO seems set to make an election bid in 2010 for the job currently being filled by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Meg Whitman was first fingered in March 2008 as a candidate for Governor of California. However this week Whitman, 52, resigned from the boards of Ebay, Procter & Gamble, and Dreamworks without saying why.

Her spokesman said the resignation was for "personal reasons" but did not confirm or deny Whiman's gubernatorial plans.

Whitman was an adviser to John McCain's presidential campaign. She was pushing a message that "Higher taxes encourage wasteful spending, demonstrate government's inability to choose among competing priorities, and destroy your prosperity." Not exactly a catchy tune.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to retire from the job in 2010.

Rivals to Whitman include State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Poizner is another Silicon Valley executive. He was behind SnapTrack, a mobile phone locating company which he flogged to Qualcomm for $1 billion in January 2000.

Another GOP rival could be Tom Campbell, a former US congressman and dean of the business school at University of California, Berkeley. µ

L'Inq
Cnet