VP Investor Relations Joe Billante Leaves eBay
UPDATE 12-14-22
Barracuda has put out a press release with a warm and glowing welcome as Billante steps into his new role.
CAMPBELL, Calif., Dec. 13, 2022 — Barracuda Networks, Inc., a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-first security solutions, today announced Joe Billante as its new Chief Financial Officer. Billante brings more than 20 years of executive leadership and finance experience to Barracuda, and has successfully led companies through business transformations, international expansion, and accelerated growth.
“As we continue to evolve our award-winning security solutions and go-to-market ecosystems, we are excited to have Joe on our team, with his deep expertise in business strategy, financial integrity, stakeholder engagement, and operational excellence, said Hatem Naguib, CEO of Barracuda. “Joe is a thoughtful decision-maker and innovator, who shares our business vision and commitment to our team.”
“I am very proud to join the Barracuda team and excited for the business opportunities ahead. Barracuda provides customers and partners with the solutions needed to protect their businesses from an increasingly complex security environment,” said Joe Billante CFO of Barracuda. “I am thrilled to be part of this important mission and look forward to getting to know and working with our customers, partners, employees and stakeholders.”
UPDATE: 12-4-22
Joe Billante has taken on the CFO position at email protection and security company Barracuda Networks. The update was posted on LinkedIn earlier today.
Value Added Resource has exclusively learned that eBay's Vice President of Investor Relations, Joe Billante, has left the company.
Per a statement from an eBay spokesperson:
Joe Billante recently left eBay for an external opportunity. We are in the process of filling his role.
Billante had been with eBay for over 13 years, joining as Sr Director of Marketing Analytics in 2009, moving up to VP, Technology Finance & Analytics in 2011, then CFO, EMEA & Greater China in 2015 and finally VP, Communications & Investor Relations in 2019.
His LinkedIn profile describes the significant role he played in his most recent position at eBay:
Leading all communications between eBay Inc and the investor community including quarterly earnings prep and ongoing engagement with buy side investors and sell-side analysts. In addition to leading IR team, currently managing global Sustainability efforts, leading all finance and analytics leadership development programs, and serve as Chairperson of the eBay Foundation.
- Managed CEO and CFO transitions, helped formulate company vision, and communicated major strategic pivots
- Led and executed eBay’s first Investor Day in 9 years. https://ebayinvestorday.com
- Managed communications between Activist investors, management, & eBay board in 2019 and 2020
- Took over global communications in late 2019, rebuilt team following exit of previous leader. During 18 months leading the function, managed company’s reputation through multiple crises including CEO exit, Public response to activist investors, and cyberstalking scandal
- Managed investor communications and financial restatements for 3 large dispositions – StubHub sale to Viagogo, eBay Classifieds transfer to Adevinta, and eBay Korea sale to Emart
- Engaged with more than 150 investors per quarter including individual meetings, investor conferences, and non-deal roadshows
The activist investors referred to here were Elliott Management and Starboard Value, who placed significant pressure on the company to undergo a comprehensive portfolio review and pushed for initiatives to improve execution and enhance oversight in 2019.
The CEO transition was of course when Devin Wenig was "allowed" to voluntarily step down, with his $57 Million golden parachute intact, following the cyberstalking conspiracy that targeted the EcommerceBytes blog and unsuckEBAY, an anonymous Twitter account who frequently commented on issues involving the company.
Billante also took over global communications at that time since Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer was fired for cause due to his involvement in the scandal.
Liz Morton ~ Founder
It is not yet known where Billante will be heading next or who will take over as VP Investor Relations.
Stay tuned for updates!
Value Added Resource is proudly reader supported - learn more about our commitment to an ad-free user experience or buy me a coffee. ☕
eBay has responded to my BBB complaint twice. The first time they told me that I deserved below standard because my shipping scans were below the threshold. However, I had to quote their own website to them saying that shipping numbers cannot lead to downgrade to Below Standard.
The second response they just said I would be restored on May 20th completely ignoring the issue at hand, admitting an issue existed, or offering any type of solution.
If this concerns you, this happened to you, or worried it may happen, please take action. In fact, take action anytime eBay is doing somethning wrong. They will change nothing if you don't say anything. If enough people speak up, they do make changes.
Promoted Listings has changed the game and removing the ability for someone to promote not only cost eBay the revenue, it makes a persons listings invisible. Today is my last day Below Standard and I will finish with 91.8% reduction in impressions, 53.8% drop in listing page views, and 78% drop in revenue.
Your fortunate to get the negative feedback removed. I just had to escalate to the customer service team getting a couple removed where the customer did not read the listing and one complained a part was not included that wasn't being sold and the other didn't read that the vacuum had an issue requiring repair. My appeals were denied without explanation. I have not had them remove feedback since they changed the process over a year ago. I have to escalate to social media and they fight me on it every time.
Most importantly - please take action. Submit feedback on their website, contact the social media team on Facebook, or however you prefer. These issues will remain if we just stay quiet. I let this go before, not this time. Today I will return to Above Average but I am fighting this until something changes.
https://www.valueaddedresource.net/contact/