EBay is spinning off PayPal

EBay has announced that it will separate PayPal into its own business. Next year, eBay and PayPal will be independent publicly-traded companies, Fortune reports.

Activist investor Carl Icahn advocated for the separation in January. The tax-free spinoff will be completed in late 2015.

Fortune notes that the split will "allow the separated businesses to focus more on their distinct core competencies: e-commerce and payments." In a statement, eBay said that while the businesses have done well together, the company found that "keeping eBay and PayPal together beyond 2015 would clearly become less advantageous to each business strategically and competitively."

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Dan Schulman, an American Express executive, is PayPal's new president, and he'll be PayPal's CEO after the separation. Devin Wening, the president of eBay Marketplaces, will become eBay's CEO after the split.