Meg Whitman Joins Zipcar's Board Of Directors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Car sharing service Zipcar Inc. said Monday that it has added former eBay Inc. CEO and 2010 California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman to its board of directors.

As Zipcar considers going public, Whitman is the third well-known executive in recent months to join its board.

Whitman led eBay from 1998 to 2008. During her tenure, the company grew from a 30-employee operation with $4 million in annual revenue to one with 15,000 employees and nearly $8 billion in revenue.

Whitman replaces Zipcar investor and board member Jim Gerson.

Earlier this month, Whitman re-joined Procter & Gamble Co.'s board of directors after a two-year absence. She first joined board in 2003 and stepped down in late 2008 before launching her bid for governor. Whitman, a Republican, also resigned from the boards of eBay and DreamWorks Animation SKG. She lost to Jerry Brown after waging the costliest state-level campaign in U.S. history. Her spending included $144 million from her personal fortune, but Brown bucked national GOP momentum in November and won by 13 percentage points.

Whitman is the latest high-profile executive to join Zipcar's board. In December, the company added AOL co-founder Steve Case and Staples Inc. chief financial officer John Mahoney as members.

That same month, the company said that it received $20 million of its latest round of Series G financing from Meritech Capital Partners, along with $1 million from Pinnacle Ventures LLC.

Zipcar's fund raising and board appointments come as the company considers going public. Zipcar told the Securities and Exchange Commission last June that it plans to make an initial public offering to raise about $75 million. A date has not been set.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)