Saridakis resigns as head of eBay Enterprise "for personal reasons"

Tom Paine

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Chris Saridakis has resigned as the head of King of Prussia-based eBay Enterprise for personal reasons, according to an eBay press release.

The announcement and its timing are somewhat surprising, given that eBay Enterprise (formerly GSI Commerce) appeared to be playing an increasingly central role within eBay's overall strategy, with Saridakis having a very visible role as part of eBay's management team.

Saridakis had served as president of eBay Enterprise since June 2011, after eBay acquired GSI Commerce (renamed eBay Enterprise in 2013), where he was part of that company’s management team. Prior to GSI Commerce he had headed up PointRoll.

Tobias Hartmann, vice president, Omnichannel Operations and International, will serve as interim head of eBay Enterprise while an external search is conducted for a permanent successor, the company said in its statement.

More from USA Today , citing sources suggesting that slower than expected growth at the unit may have been a factor behind the departure.

GSI Commerce renamed eBay Enterprise

Tom Paine

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Today, eBay announced that it had rebranded its King of Prussia-based GSI Commerce unit as eBay Enterprise, two years after acquiring it.

Looking through eBay Enterprise President Chris Saridakis' statement on its website, I don't see any specific organizational changes announced. Rather, Saridakis emphasizes eBay Enterprise's role as an "omnichannal" ecommerce solution for enterprises, with increasing cross-utilization of other eBay assets, including eBay Marketplaces, PayPal and other eBay
technologies. (For example, the company recently said it would integrate eBay's Magneto ecommerce software with GSI Commerce (now eBay Enterprise) technology and make it available to GSI clients.

A recent Gartner Magic Quadrant report showed IBM, Oracle and Hybris (recently reached agreement to be acquired by SAP) as the leaders in ecommerce,with eBay-GSI Commerce as one of the challengers.


eBay completed its $2.4 billion (cash + debt) acquisition of GSI Commerce, founded by Michael Rubin, precisely two years ago today. Rubin went on to start Conshohocken-based Kynetic LLC, in which eBay has a 30% stake in two of its three operating businesses.




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