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> The eBay/PayPal split has been a mess

It has been an absolute goldmine for shareholders. eBay bought PayPal for $1.5b in 2002 and spun it off in 2015 for ~$50b. PYPL is currently valued at $106b.

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Why would eBay shareholders consider it a "goldmine" if eBay let PayPal go for half of what it was worth?

I have not checked the details, but I read it as someone who held a share in Ebay+PayPal prior to PayPal being spun of got an Ebay share + X PayPal shares at the time of the spinoff. I don't think PayPal was bought for $50B, it was valued as that as a separate entity. The PayPal share has doubled in value since the split.

Because they didn't sell it, they spun it off. Shareholders got 1 PYPL share for every share of EBAY. EBAY was ~$28 a share and the combined value of both is currently ~$123. An 80% annualized ROI seems like a goldmine to me!

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