eBay has recently acquired Magento for over $180 million. Magento is a developer of open source platforms for e-commerce. Magento will be another strong addition to eBay’s newly formed X.commerce group which already includes the likes of PayPal, RedLaser, and Milo.
Some reports suggest that prior to the current acquisition eBay had already bought a minority stake in the company for a sum of $90 million. The remainder of the company was bought out by eBay in the past few weeks.
Initially, Magento had been marketed by Varien, which was a ten year old e-commerce company. However, it was only when eBay had invested in Magento that it got incorporated as a standalone venture. Many rumors are circling that when this happened, the management of the company took great measures in avoiding the paying out of old employees who had helped in building up the Magento name.
Rumors also suggest that many of these Magento employees are seeking legal redress and filing lawsuits. These employees claim that they have been cheated out of stakes worth as much as $18 million. Neither the Magento management nor eBay has commented on this issue. It should be interesting to note how this story ultimately unfolds.
