NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn increased pressure on eBay Inc to separate from its payments business PayPal on Wednesday and called corporate governance at the e-commerce giant "dysfunctional."
The activist investor, who disclosed a 2.15 percent stake in the e-commerce giant on Monday, also promised to lay out a more detailed case for spinning off fast-growing PayPal in coming weeks.
"We believe corporate governance at eBay is dysfunctional. Let's end this charade," Icahn said in a letter to eBay shareholders. He urged shareholders to vote for his slate of directors and in favor of his spinoff proposal.
"In the coming weeks we will lay out the full detailed business case to support this separation," he added.
Icahn said in a letter to shareholders on Monday that two longtime board members, Marc Andreessen and Scott Cook, had business interests that directly competed with eBay.
Icahn, chairman of Icahn Enterprises L.P., is known for taking large stakes in companies and pushing for management change. He was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)