An independent committee formed to soften up Republican Meg Whitman before the November gubernatorial election is agitating for records of her use of eBay’s “opulent private jet” during her years as the company’s CEO.
Dassault Falcon 900ex
In a letter to eBay’s Board of Directors, Level the Playing Field 2010, a committee formed by Democratic party strategists, asked for “flight manifests” and other records of Whitman’s use of the company’s Dassault Falcon and Gulfstream jet between 2002 and 2007.
“Shareholders deserve to know whether they got billed for the party while Meg Whitman jetted to Telluride,” wrote campaign manager Sean Clegg. Clegg, who said he recently bought a share of eBay stock, promised a “shareholder revolt” over the issue.
Whitman has already spent $39 million of her personal fortune on her campaign for the GOP nomination for governor.
In radio ads, Level the Playing Field has sought to portray her as an out-of-touch billionaire who is trying to buy political office. The committee is concerned about “the massive infusion of personal wealth into the governor’s race,” according to a press release.
Whitman told KCBS radio last week that the attack ads show that “Democrats are worried about my candidacy.” She added:
Well, I don't think anyone can crown themselves governor. I don't think you can buy elections. What I'm trying to do is get my message out to voters. And voters are really smart. They will figure out who they want to lead this state. They will decide who they think is the most capable, given the current set of economic challenges that we face.
Inside the Gulfstream G550
The new effort seeking corporate travel records is of obvious benefit to Attorney General Jerry Brown, the presumed Democratic nominee, but the committee says it raised money on its own and isn’t coordinating with Brown. That’s legally required for an independent expenditure committee to operate in California.
The letter quoted public records as showing that Whitman had billed eBay $3.2 million for personal use of corporate jets during her years as CEO. Shareholders complained, the letter said, and eBay’s board wouldn’t let her successor use the jet for personal business nearly as much as much.
In addition to Clegg, who is former press spokesman for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Level the Playing Field involves Chris Lehane, onetime aide to President Bill Clinton, and Averill “Ace” Smith, an advisor to Hilary Clinton’s 2008 Presidential campaign. It calls itself "a coalition of nurses, faculty and painters organizations."
Level the Playing Field wrote today:
Public records reveal that between 2002 and 2007 Whitman charged eBay more than $3.2 million for personal use of the corporate jet and tax reimbursements related to her use of the company jet. In both 2006 and 2007, Whitman was given 200 hours for 'personal use' of the eBay aircraft. In contrast, in the year after Whitman left eBay, the company's Compensation Committee amended the company's corporate aircraft usage policies to limit executive personal use to just 50 hours for Whitman's successor, CEO John Donahoe. In 2008, Donahoe charged the company just over one-third what Whitman had the previous year for personal use of the corporate jet.
EBay owned and operated two jets while Whitman was president and CEO. The first, a Dassault Falcon 900EX, cost the company roughly $30 million, prompting one eBay watchdog to comment that eBay had 'spent $30 million on a jet for Meg.' The second jet, purchased in 2005, was a Gulfstream G550 model. A company brochure describes the model as possessing the 'opulence of best-in-class comforts.'
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