EBay to acquire payments startup Braintree for $800 million cash

PayPal's parent company, eBay, plans to acquire payments startup Braintree for approximately US$800 million in cash to enhance PayPal's mobile capabilities.

Braintree offers a platform designed to make it easier for companies to accept payments in apps or on websites. Experienced developers should be able to integrate the platform in less than half an hour, allowing companies to start accepting payments quickly, according to the company.

EBay said that it hopes that PayPal and Braintree will be able to better support developers together. Once the acquisition is completed, Braintree will continue to operate as a separate service within PayPal, it said.

The Braintree service is used by companies like Web-based accommodation service AirBNB and taxi-hailing service Uber. It is used by merchants in more than 40 countries across North America, Europe and Australia. The merchants can accept payments in more than 130 currencies.

"By joining with PayPal, we'll be able to expand more quickly around the world. We'll have more tools to offer to our customers through our developer platform. The universe of consumers that we can reach with our services that make it easy for people to pay on a mobile device will expand significantly," Braintree's CEO William Ready said in a blog post.

Braintree's mobile application Venmo is part of the acquisition and will help to contribute to PayPal's mobile payments capabilities, eBay said in the release. PayPal's mobile payment volume is projected to be more than $20 billion this year, it added.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close late in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Loek is Amsterdam Correspondent and covers online privacy, intellectual property, open-source and online payment issues for the IDG News Service. Follow him on Twitter at @loekessers or email tips and comments to loek_essers@idg.com

Larry Ellison takes $1 salary, declines bonus, still lands $78 million

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who consistently ranks among the highest paid CEOs in the U.S., took an 18% pay cut this year.

Ellison drew a token $1 salary for the third year in a row and declined a $1.2 million performance-based bonus after the company missed its internal financial targets. Those gestures did little to reduce the value of his compensation, however. The significant difference between his $78.4 million package in 2013 and his $96.2 million package in 2012 is the value of the stock awards granted to Ellison during the financial year -- which were worth $76.9 million this year, compared to $90.7 million in 2012.

The remainder of Ellison's pay package consists of a $1.5 million residential security perk; a $1,126 bonus for being named inventor on two U.S. patent applications; and $2,999 in legal services related to Ellison's personal political campaign contributions.

Ellison was eligible to receive a maximum bonus of $6.1 million, had the company met its performance objectives. But it didn't meet those targets, which led to Ellison turning down the prorated bonus, as explained in the company's proxy statement:

"Given Oracle's pay-for-performance philosophy and fiscal 2013 growth that did not meet Oracle's own internal expectations, Mr. Ellison was eligible for a bonus payment of approximately $1.2 million and voluntarily declined his fiscal 2013 bonus and therefore received no bonus payout ($0) for fiscal 2013."

Ellison isn't the only senior executive to forgo a bonus. Oracle presidents Safra Catz and Mark Hurd did, too. For financial year 2013, the target bonus for Catz and Hurd was $3.7 million. Factoring in the company's performance, Catz and Hurd were eligible for approximately $717,000 apiece, which they both declined.

Nonetheless, Catz and Hurd earned identical pay packages worth $43.6 million in 2013 -- a decline of 16% compared to their 2012 pay. Their compensation consisted of a $950,000 salary and option awards valued at $42.6 million. Catz and Hurd also earned perks and other compensation worth $20,105 and $22,074, respectively.

In financial year 2013, Oracle's net income increased 9% to $10.9 billion. Total revenue was flat at $37.2 billion.

Total pay for Ellison, Hurd and Catz is calculated using data supplied in a proxy statement filed with the SEC on Sept. 20. The following figures are taken from the summary compensation table: salary, stock awards, non-equity incentive place compensation (performance-based cash bonus), and all other compensation. The estimated value of equity awards represents the grant date fair value for stock awards and stock options granted during the financial year.

Ann Bednarz covers IT careers, outsourcing and Internet culture for Network World. Follow Ann on Twitter at@annbednarzand reach her via email atabednarz@nww.com.