Craigslist exec told Whitman had 2 sides

GEORGETOWN, Del. — The eBay executive who led the online auction site's efforts to gain a minority stake in Craigslist warned that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman had a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality, the CEO of Craigslist said Monday.Craigslist CEO James Buckmaster testified that two days after a March 2005 Craigslist board meeting, eBay executive Garrett Price expressed frustration at the slow progress of the two companies in trying to agree on an international joint venture.Price, a senior director of corporate development who was eBay's point man in talks with Craigslist, wrote Buckmaster that the two companies needed to move past the limbo that was straining their relationship and "driving executives (especially Meg) to distraction."Price said he needed to remind Craigslist officials that there were "two Meg Whitmans," Buckmaster saidCraigslist officials, he was told, had met the "good" Whitman in July 2004, when she convinced Buckmaster, who had broken off discussions and decided not to do business with eBay, to go forward with negotiations that eventually resulted in eBay's 28 percent minority stake in the online classifieds company.Buckmaster said Price warned him that there also was an "evil Meg, and that we would best be served if we got with the program, or we're going to meet the evil Meg." Price added that Whitman, who is now seeking the Republican nomination for governor in California, could be a "monster" if she got frustrated, according to BuckmasterBuckmaster was testifying in a lawsuit filed by eBay claiming that Craigslist officials improperly acted to dilute eBay's minority stake after a falling out in 2007.In response to Buckmaster, a spokesman for eBay released a statement in which Price described Buckmaster's testimony of alleged statements he made about Whitman as "false and malicious."Buckmaster said after Price kept insisting on a path that would lead eBay to a controlling interest or ownership of Craigslist, he decided to walk away from the proposed deal in the early summer of 2004.But

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