Icahn, eBay Battle Escalates

The war of words between Carl Icahn and eBay Inc. continued unabated yesterday.

Icahn wants the online marketplace to spin-off its PayPal unit—and he’s accused two members of the company’s board of conflicts of interest. Yesterday morning, he issued his fifth letter on the matter, announcing plans to demand “an inspection of eBay’s relevant books and records pursuant to our right as stockholders under Delaware law.”

Icahn also took aim once at Netscape Communications founder Marc Andreessen, alleging that he got non-public information as an eBay director will investing in or advising five eBay competitors

“Mr. Andreessen’s conflicts are clear and insurmountable,” Icahn wrote.

For its part, eBay called Icahn’s allegations “false and misleading.” Andreessen wrote, “I dispute all accusations that I have violated any of my duties to eBay shareholders. I was uninvolved in eBay’s decision to spin off Skype and eBay’s decision to partner with the Silver Lake syndicate,” including his own venture capital firm.