eBay Sues Craigslist, As Craig And Jim Dilute eBay's Share

from the call-in-customer-service dept

You may recall that eBay was able to buy approximately one quarter of Craigslist back in 2004. The details of what happened were never made entirely clear (and there are some conflicting stories about those details), but it appeared that the two companies co-existed somewhat peacefully for a while, despite eBay's decision to basically create a Craigslist competitor in Kijiji. However, now things are getting more interesting. Apparently, back in January, Craigslist did something to dilute eBay's share, which eBay now feels was illegal. The company has now sued Craigslist over the matter, though most of the details are hidden, as the lawsuit was filed under seal. Given that Kijiji finally expanded into the US last year (just as Craigslist continued to expand internationally), it's no surprise that Craigslist would seek to decrease eBay's stake in the company. Either way, the perhaps already awkward linkage between Craigslist and eBay seems to be getting even more uncomfortable.

Filed Under: craigslist, dilution, kijiji, ownership
Companies: craigslist, ebay