EBay Mulling Over Move From San Jose

EBay Inc., which started life in a converted extra bedroom in San Jose in 1995, soon will outgrow its 10-building campus in the heart of Silicon Valley and is considering relocating.

In a memo to employees seeking their suggestions on where the company should move, Chief Executive Meg Whitman does not rule out leaving the San Jose area.

“We have not yet made any decisions,” Whitman wrote in the memo sent last week to nearly 3,000 staff members at company headquarters. “We are very thoughtfully exploring all the options and will keep you informed every step of the way.”

One of the options, of course, is for current EBay employees to stay put while the company expands elsewhere.

But what makes people nervous is the prospect that the entire company could leave town.

Spokesman Kevin Pursglove said EBay, which is considered the one unqualified e-commerce success and is closely identified with Silicon Valley, has a lease on its current buildings until 2006.

PayPal, which was recently acquired by EBay, also is outgrowing its office space in nearby Mountain View.

The company already operates customer service centers in Salt Lake City and Omaha.