Elevation snaps up eBay exec

Rajiv Dutta, former president of PayPal and Skype at eBay, joins Bono's (other) band

On Tuesday, former executive VP of eBay Rajiv Dutta joined private equity firm Elevation Partners as a managing director.

Elevation Partners focuses on large-scal investments in consumer and tech businesses. It counts Forbes and Palm among its portfolio companies, and U2 lead singer Bono amoung its partners.

Elevation recently made a bid to carve Skype out of Dutta’s alma mater eBay, but lost to a group led by Silver Lake Partners. Interestingly, both Silver Lake and Elevation were founded by Roger McNamee.

Dutta's most recent roles with eBay were as executive vice president and president of eBay Marketplaces. Before that, he was President of PayPal and Skype for eBay, and had an impressive run as its CFO, during which revenues grew from $430 million to $4.5 billion He specializes in operational and investment strategy in consumer and technology businesses and sits on Palm’s board, and was on the board of Jamdat before it sold to Electronic Arts.

He’s had plenty of contact with the firm’s partners, between the bid for Skype, Palm’s board, and working closel with Elevation’s Fred Anderson at eBay for many years.

image from WebProNews video.

PRESS RELEASE

Elevation Partners, a private equity firm focused on large-scale investments in market-leading consumer and technology businesses, announced today that Rajiv Dutta has joined the firm as a Managing Director. Mr. Dutta brings to Elevation more than 25 years of senior operational and investment experience in consumer and technology businesses. Most recently, Mr. Dutta served as Executive Vice President of eBay and President of eBay Marketplaces, where he created tremendous value for eBay investors.

In his new role, Mr. Dutta will work with Elevation’s five co-founders and the rest of the Elevation team to evaluate investment opportunities, advise the senior management of Elevation’s portfolio companies, and drive the overall strategy of the firm.

Fred Anderson, Managing Director and co-founder of Elevation commented, "I have known Rajiv and worked closely with him at eBay for many years. We are thrilled to have someone with his phenomenal track record join our team. His operational and financial experience, extensive network of contacts, and flawless reputation as a leader of innovative internet businesses will be huge assets to our firm going forward.”

Rajiv Dutta said, "I'm excited to be joining an extremely talented group of people at Elevation. The firm is creating value for investors through operational transformation of technology-centric consumer businesses. The implementation of strategy, talent, and operational excellence are my core competencies and made Elevation a natural fit for me. I am looking forward to working with the team, having fun along the way, and making a big impact in the world of consumer technology."

Mr. Dutta most recently enjoyed a 10-year career at eBay, culminating as Executive Vice President of eBay and President of Marketplaces. In that role, Mr. Dutta focused on long term growth strategies. Before that, Mr. Dutta was President of PayPal and Skype, which under his tenure were the two fastest growing divisions of the company, and enjoyed expanding profitability. In addition, Mr. Dutta served as eBay’s Chief Financial Officer. During his tenure as CFO, the company's revenues grew from $430 million to $4.5 billion and the company's market capitalization increased by nearly $45 billion. Prior to eBay, Mr. Dutta spent 10 years at Bio-Rad Laboratories, a life sciences and clinical diagnostics company, in a variety of leadership roles across the world. Prior to Bio-Rad, Mr. Dutta previously served as the worldwide sales controller for KLA-Tencor.

Mr. Dutta holds a B.A. from St. Stephen's College and earned his M.B.A. from the Drucker School of Management at the Claremont Graduate University, where he was the youngest MBA graduate in the school’s history. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Palm, Inc. and is a former Board member of eBay and Jamdat, a mobile gaming company sold to Electronic Arts.

ABOUT ELEVATION PARTNERS
Elevation Partners is a $1.9 billion private equity firm that makes large-scale investments in market-leading and consumer-related businesses where it can partner with management to enhance growth and profitability through a combination of strategic capital and operational insight. Its investment team has a unique combination of industry expertise and relationships; investing experience; and operating knowledge. Elevation’s six partners are Rajiv Dutta, Fred Anderson, former EVP and CFO of Apple; Bret Pearlman, former senior managing director of The Blackstone Group; Marc Bodnick, a founding principal of Silver Lake Partners; Roger McNamee, co-founder of Silver Lake Partners and Integral Capital Partners; and Bono, lead singer and co-founder of the rock band U2. For more information, visit https://www.elevation.com.