EBay poaches ex-Amazon Alexa executive for chief product officer role

eBay's headquarters in San Jose, California, U.S.

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EBay has poached a senior executive from Amazon as it works to compete in the crowded e-commerce market.

The company announced Monday it has hired Peter Thompson, former vice president of Amazon's Alexa Voice Services, as eBay's new senior vice president and chief product officer.

Thompson will start at eBay on July 29 and will report to eBay CEO Devin Wenig.

Alongside Thompson's hiring, eBay said it also appointed Mazen Rawashdeh as chief technology officer. Rawashdeh worked at eBay between 2003 and 2011, then served as a vice president at Twitter, in addition to working as an angel investor and tech adviser.

In his new role, Thompson will oversee eBay's product experience, the company said. He's expected to focus on simplifying how users shop on the site, including how they discover products and receive recommendations.

Prior to Amazon, Thompson served as TiVo's chief operating officer, where he oversaw Rovi's $1.1 billion acquisition of TiVo, which closed in 2016. He also held executive roles at Microsoft and T-Mobile, eBay said.

Thompson's hiring comes as eBay raised its profit outlook and reported better-than-expected results in the latest quarter.

Analysts noted that the company's investments in advertising, payments and personal recommendations appear to have bolstered results.

EBay is also exploring a potential sale of ticket exchange company StubHub. The process is still in the early stages, but "multiple" parties are reportedly eyeing it.

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