Did Carl Icahn Go Too Far in His eBay Letter?

On Monday, activist investor Carl Icahn delivered a swift jab at eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) leadership in a terse letter questioning the loyalties of certain board members and the competence of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Donahoe.

In a letter to eBay shareholders, Icahn charged eBay leadership with the most "blatant disregard" for accountability that his firm Icahn Enterprises "has ever seen."

The bare-knuckled blame includes charges of pseudo-insider trading, gross mismanagement, and failure to address "conflicts of interests" among board members, while calling, yet again, for a spin-off of eBay's surging PayPal division.

eBay responded on Monday to his letter line by line, defending its leadership.

The battle is now heating up, as Icahn pushes for the replacement of specific board members.

We've seen this behavior from Icahn in the past.

As a bullish shareholder, he publicly sparred with hedge fund manager Bill Ackman over the future of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF), a battle he has handsomely won as the stock price surged. He called out the board of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) over its glut of cash on hand, pushing for a $50-billion stock buyback. He even had no qualms about taking Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) private, a move that would have wrestled control of the company away from its founder and CEO Michael Dell, who started the company in 1984 from a college dorm room.

But the new charges against eBay leaders raise a question of whether Icahn has gone too far this time...

The PayPal Battle Heats Up Here's the crux of Icahn's position on eBay, his outlook, and his principle concerns about the company:

"We have recently accumulated a significant position in eBay's common stock because we believe there is great long-term value in the business. However, after diligently researching this company we have discovered multiple lapses in corporate governance. These include certain material conflicts of interest, which we believe could put the future of our company in peril. We have found ourselves in many troubling situations over the years, but the complete disregard for accountability at eBay is the most blatant we have ever seen."

Icahn makes several serious charges, accusing CEO John Donahoe's of "ineptitude" in addressing Icahn's concerns.

First, Icahn accuses director Scott Cook, a current board member of Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), a minor competitor of eBay, of working for the enemy. Icahn believes Cook is interfering in eBay's hiring practices.

Second, he accuses board member and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen of "routinely funding competitors while buying companies from eBay and reaping significant personal riches." The charge comes in the wake of Andreesen's efforts, as part of an investment group, to purchase 70% of Skype from eBay for $2.75 billion, a figure that was slightly less than what the company paid for it just four years earlier. He charges Andreesen with investing in at least five direct competitors of eBay in the mobile payment and online money management sectors.

In Icahn's mind, both Andreesen and Cook are directly competing against eBay's interests. Writes Icahn: "How can Mr. Andreessen be trusted to objectively advise Mr. Donahoe and the eBay Board about the strategic direction of PayPal when he has vested interest in so many of its competitors?"

eBay defended both board members in their reply, citing the "extraordinary insight, expertise, and leadership" that they bring to the company's board.

The charges are brash. But as an activist investor, Icahn believes it's his job to stand up on behalf of fellow investors against acts of mismanagement by the board and executives (of course, while making a lot of money in the process)...

His forte is focusing on great companies and stocks held back by poor management. This is why critics have accused Icahn of being a corporate raider, drawing comparisons to Gordon Gecko, the fictional tycoon from the 1987 movie "Wall Street." Business Insider even labeled him "The Most Dangerous Man on Wall Street" in March 2013.

So, will he get his way again?

eBay's Reaction to Carl Icahn Ultimately, Icahn wants eBay to spin off the highly profitable PayPal division that is competing with Amazon, Google, MasterCard, and other financial services companies.

Icahn's letter doesn't provide much new evidence that wasn't already brought up by gurus in the past. Certainly, his concerns are valid, and a PayPal spin-off would be beneficial in the short term due to the significant premium it would likely draw from investors. So Icahn is using his name and purse to shine a brighter light on the matter and bring it to the front page of every major financial news outlet.

A PayPal spin-off is likely of PayPal in the future. For the time being, however, eBay seems content in having a diversified business model. eBay leaders believe that PayPal benefits right now from having access to its customers, technology, and financing. In a highly competitive, uncertain, and fast-growing industry, the company may need eBay's resources as it continues to innovate and carve out its share of the digital payment marketplace.

So if recent history is any indicator, we're in store for a long battle between Icahn and eBay leaders.

Tesla stock has been on a tear this year, up 69% in 2014 and up 665% since the start of 2013. But Tesla's "Gigafactory" could really send its stock through the roof...

Honda starts making Fit cars in Mexico

Honda has started making its Fit subcompact in Celaya, Mexico, as the automaker continues to move production from Japan to North America for vehicles it sells in the U.S.

Until now, all Fits sold in North America were imported from Japan. Fit is the smallest car that Honda sells in the U.S. A crossover vehicle is also expected to be made off the same Fit platform at the plant.

Honda is investing $800 million in the assembly plant and $470 million in the adjacent transmission plant in Celaya because of Celaya's lower labor rates and proximity to two port cities, one on the Pacific Coast, the other on the Gulf of Mexico.

This is the latest in a series of new investments automakers are making in Mexico. Chrysler, Nissan and Volkswagen are all either expanding or opening new plants south of the border.

Rick Schostek, a Honda vice president, said Celaya has access to a rail line and highways for shipping parts and finished cars.

MORE: Mexico to best Japan in car exports to the U.S.

Celaya, with a population of more than 300,000, is about three hours by car northwest of Mexico City.

"The officials in Mexico were very great to deal with. We had good cooperation and partnership with them," he said.

The new Fit has been redesigned with more interior and cargo space.

In 2013, Honda sold 53,513 Fits in the U.S., up 8.4% from 2012. The Fit competes with the Ford Fiesta, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris and Chevrolet Sonic.

Honda's new Mexican assembly plant will employ 1,600 now and grow to 3,200 when it reaches full production at the end of this year. The plant is capable of making about 200,000 cars annually. The new transmission plant will employ 1,500 when it opens in 2015.

That will boost Honda's annual production capacity in North America to 1.92 million vehicles. In 2013, more than 90% of the Honda and Acura cars and SUVs sold in the U.S. were produced in North America. That will increase to more than 95% when the Celaya plant reaches full capacity.!

BMW revels in Olympic bobsled publicity coup

While Under Armour licks its wounds from Sochi, BMW of North America is taking bows for designing the bobsleds that led to three U.S. medals at the winter Olympics.

The real coup by BMW wasn't as much as having designed the bobsled, but rather getting NBC to endlessly hype the German automaker's participation -- as if it was BMW, and not the athletes, that were key to success. NBC repeatedly cut to segments during the competition in which athletes explained BMW's participation, showing a sled with a BMW logo.

At one point, a prime-time commentator referred to an American team's bobsled as the "ultimate sliding machine." BMW ran ads on NBC repeatedly during the primetime bobsled competition underscoring its participation.

BMW's bigger victory was in trying to coaxing Olympics viewers into seeing it, a foreign brand ,as American, as supporting an American cause. BMW is a German automaker, although it makes many of its vehicles in the U.S. -- South Carolina, to be specific.

"Being part of this historic U.S. bobsledding milestone has truly been an honor," said Michael Scully, creative director of BMW Group 's DesignworksUSA, which has a big facility in California. "To see both the U.S. men's and women's teams on the Olympic podium with three medals is both a career and personal highlight, and I'm extremely proud of the athletes' achievements."

The medal take: two bronzes and a silver.

At the polar extreme of the Winter Olympics universe, athletic wear maker Under Armour saw its Olympic dreams shrivel after speed skaters initially blamed their speed suits for poor performance.

While it hopeed to get the same residual glow from the games, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank found himself having to defend the company and talk about rebuilding the company's image.

"It was a bit of a witch hunt that began to build," Plank told USA TODAY's Bruce Horvitz. When U.S. speed skaters were failing to earn gold medals, their apparel became a scapegoat. "The suit became the witch."