Meg Whitman Joins Goldman Sachs' Board of Directors

Business Wire, Oct 1, 2001

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 2001

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) announced today that Meg Whitman, President and Chief Executive Officer of eBay Inc., has joined its Board of Directors.

eBay is the world's online marketplace for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and businesses. It is the most popular shopping site on the Internet, when measured by total user minutes, with 34.1 million registered users worldwide. In 2000, eBay realized gross merchandise sales of more than $5 billion.

"Meg Whitman is one of the most dynamic and forward-looking leaders in business today," said Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. "She is an outstanding addition to our Board, and we look forward to working with her."

Ms. Whitman joined eBay in 1998, from Hasbro, where she was general manager of the Preschool Division. Prior to that position, she was president and CEO of Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD), the world's largest floral products company, and before that, president of the Stride Rite Corporation's Stride Rite division. She has held senior marketing and brand marketing positions at Walt Disney Company, and Procter & Gamble and has also worked at consulting firm Bain & Co. She earned a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking and securities firm that provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms. The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.