Wednesday marked the beginning of the end of an eBay era. The online auctioneer announced that Meg Whitman will step down as president and CEO on March 31. She will remain on the company’s board of directors and John Donahoe will become president and CEO.

Whitman joined eBay in March 1998. At the time, eBay was a U.S.-only, auction-based trading site with 500,000 registered users, 30 employees, and $4.7 million in revenue. Today, the company has hundreds of millions of users worldwide, more than 15,000 employees, and nearly $7.7 billion in revenue.

Whitman led eBay to become one of the fastest-growing companies in history. Over the last 10 years, she has built a portfolio of brands and a thriving business that enables millions of people to trade, pay and communicate online.

“Meg’s passion for all things eBay changed the world,” said Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay and chairman of the board. “With humor, smarts and unflappable determination, Meg took a small, barely known online auction site and helped it become an integral part of our lives. We’re all enormously grateful that Meg dedicated herself to stewarding eBay through its 10 most formative years.”

A Well-Groomed Successor

eBay’s board of directors voted unanimously to make Donahoe president and CEO. Donahoe came to eBay in February 2005 from Bain & Company, where he had served as worldwide managing director since 1999.

For nearly three years, Donahoe has been president of eBay Marketplaces, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the company’s global revenues. In this role, Donahoe has been responsible for the growth of eBay and its other e-commerce businesses around the world, and during the time he has managed this business unit, both revenues and profits doubled.

“During the last three years, John and I have worked very closely together to arrive at this day,…