Devin Wenig becomes the chief executive of eBay today as the online marketplace separates from its PayPal business.

Prior to taking on the new role Wenig was president of eBay Marketplaces.

Wenig said he is “laser-focused” on improving eBay’s competitiveness and driving stable and profitable growth over the long term at the retailer.

Under Wenig’s leadership, eBay will focus on building a more “robust” commerce platform as the web giant begins collecting the “necessary” product data needed to improve discoverability.

The online marketplace is using the data to improve search quality and relevance on its site to allow shoppers to find products more effectively.

Wenig said: “As eBay celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, we are making rapid changes to position our business for the future. 

“My goal, and that of the entire leadership team, is for eBay to be the best global marketplace, and a great enduring internet business.”

He added eBay will be launching an “exciting new experience” on mobile later this year, which will be more “engaging, discovery-based approach based on learnings from our iPad experience”.

Solid second quarter

Wenig unveiled his vision for eBay in a blog post after the company revealed its second-quarter results, which he described as “solid progress”.

EBay’s revenues beat analysts’ expectations as they increased to $4.4bn (£2.8bn) for the second quarter ending June 30, up 7% from $4.1bn (£2.6bn).

Net income fell 88% from $676m (£435m) to $83m (£53m) during the period, while during the quarter the board also authorised the sale of the eBay Enterprise division.

PayPal separation

EBay acquired PayPal ten years ago but decided last autumn to spin-off the business after pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn. Dan Schulman will lead the spun-off PayPal business.

PayPal is expected to be valued at around $44bn (£28.2bn), which may eclipse the estimated $35bn (£22.5bn) for eBay’s marketplace after the split.

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