EBay’s ‘Conflict of Interest’ Is Just How Silicon Valley Does Business

Corporate raider Carl Icahn is stirring up another shitstorm. This time, he’s going after eBay, accusing the web giant of harboring competitors on its board of directors. Ultimately, the billionaire investor is throwing his weight around in order to make himself some extra cash, but he has stumbled onto a phenomenon that will only become more common at the highest levels of the tech world. As the giants of tech keep expanding — entering each others’ markets, looking more like one another — apparent conflicts of internet are only going to pop up in the board room more often.