Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Meg Whitman Tests Media's Celeb-CEO Myth

Calif. voters to decide if ex-eBay honcho was really a rock star

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 28, 2009 3:09 PM CDT

(Newser) – For years Meg Whitman has benefited from the sycophantic business media’s lionization of the CEO. Throughout the boom years, “CEOs were pretty much automatically rock stars,” writes Simon Dumenco for Advertising Age. “If they banked a billion or more, the thinking went, they must have been doing something right—right?” Now Whitman is running for governor of California, and the boom years seem long ago. Will voters still believe in "the omnipotence of the Celebrity CEO?"

Republicans, who claim to hate the press, “will gladly trade on the media-created mythology” surrounding her CEO days. But now voters, suddenly suspicious of billionaires, will be asking, as the media didn’t, if she was really that great. She made eBay into a huge company but made plenty of missteps—cough, Skype, cough—along the way. Ultimately, her record is distorted by “the funhouse mirrors of the boom years.”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman speaks at a news conference at the California Republican Convention in Indian Wells, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Francis Specker)

Meg Whitman, a likely candidate for California governor, speaks in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman gives a speech during the California Republican Convention in Indian Wells, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Francis Specker)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Annoyingly, the answer may not matter: Whitman has announced her intention to spend $150 million — including 'as much as it takes' from her own pocket — to buy the governorship. Er, I mean, run for office. - Simon Dumenco

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Media to Newt: We Can't Quit You!

Dana Milbank on why reporters everywhere love Gingrich

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich said something hurtful recently. "All our friends in the news media are very excited and eager to end this race as soon as possible," he told a Florida crowd. But nothing could be further from the truth, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post . "You give us exactly what political journalists crave. Sure, some of us are ideologically biased, but we are far more biased in favor of conflict—and that's why we’re all in the tank for you." More»

Meg Whitman to Take Over at Hewlett-Packard?

Insiders say strugging company may dump CEO Leo Apotheker

(NEWSER) - Meg Whitman may have lost out on her bid to be governor of California, but she might soon be back in a high-profile business post, reports Bloomberg . It quotes anonymous sources who say Hewlett-Packard's board may fire CEO Leo Apotheker and replace him with Whitman on an interim basis. Also in the rumor mill: The board may not spin off the company's PC business after all, with some directors saying the move hasn't been studied thoroughly enough. More»

WSJ : Stop Using Hacking Scandal to 'Assail' Us

'Ideological' competitors aim to spread blame

(NEWSER) - Those at the Wall Street Journal—and "thousands of other journalists"—don’t deserve to be implicated in a mess caused by a single British tabloid, write the editors of the Journal , whose own publisher, Les Hinton, recently stepped down amid the phone hacking scandal . In a lengthy defense of their paper they begin with Hinton, arguing that he brought the Journal back to profitability in tough economic times, displayed sound ethical judgment, and invested in journalists. More»

Jerry Brown's $37M Trumped Whitman's $179M

Failed Calif. gov campaign cost $43.25 per vote in her favor

(NEWSER) - Democrat Jerry Brown won the California governor's race despite being outspent nearly 5 to 1 by opponent Meg Whitman, according to campaign finance reports filed yesterday. The former eBay CEO, who shattered the record for personal spending by a candidate, spent $178.5 million on her campaign, of which $144.2 million was from her own pocket, the AP reports. More»

Sarah Palin: Hey, Obama Misspeaks, Too

She slams media for uneven mocking

(NEWSER) - Facing ridicule for her comment about “our North Korean allies,” Sarah Palin has accused the media of a double-standard: Why, she asked on Facebook , isn’t President Obama mocked for his gaffes? Remember when he said he’d been to all 57 states? Palin references that and a number of Obama’s other stumbles: “If you can’t remember hearing about them, that’s because for the most part the media didn’t consider them newsworthy.” More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Meg Whitman Tests Media's Celeb-CEO Myth