H&R Block Franchise Elects William C. Cobb, Former President, eBay U.S. Marketplaces, to Board of Directors

By: H&R Block | 1 Shares 119 Reads

KANSAS CITY, MO (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) today announced that it has elected William C. Cobb, former President of eBay Inc.'s U.S. Marketplaces division, to its board of directors. In eight years with eBay, Mr. Cobb served as President of the flagship U.S. Marketplaces division, with more than $25 billion in gross merchandise sales, $2.6 billion in revenue and more than 5,000 associates. Mr. Cobb also oversaw affiliated businesses including StubHub, Shopping.com and Rent.com. Prior to heading eBay U.S. Marketplaces, he was General Manager of eBay International, and before that served as head of global marketing for eBay.

Before joining eBay, Mr. Cobb held senior marketing positions with Pepsico/Tricon, now YUM! Brands. For more than 12 years, he held positions with senior marketing responsibilities for KFC International, Pizza Hut International and Taco Bell International. Mr. Cobb also held senior marketing positions for domestic operations of Pepsi-Cola earlier in his tenure.

In addition to H&R Block, Mr. Cobb is a director of Orbitz Worldwide (OWW), Pacific Sunware of California (PSUN) and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group (OZM).

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Bill Cobb to the H&R Block Board of Directors," said Richard C. Breeden, Chairman of the Board. "Over an eight-year period Bill helped build eBay into one of the largest and most successful eCommerce businesses in the world. As we consider opportunities to enhance our digital businesses, such as online tax filing and prepaid debit cards, Bill's experience will be extremely helpful to us. His extensive marketing experience for highly successful brands also will be an important addition to the board. Bill has a proven record of creating shareholder value in the digital arena, and also brings high-level executive leadership experience to our board," added Mr. Breeden.

Mr. Cobb is a graduate from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's of science degree in economics. He also holds an MBA degree from Northwestern University. Mr. Cobb lives in Bay Harbor, Mich.

About H&R Block

H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) is one of the world's largest tax services providers, having prepared more than 550 million tax returns since 1955. In fiscal 2010, H&R Block had annual revenues of $3.9 billion and prepared more than 23 million tax returns worldwide, utilizing more than 100,000 highly trained tax professionals. The Company provides tax return preparation services in person, through H&R Block At Home(TM) online and desktop software products, and through other channels. The Company is also one of the leading providers of business services through McGladrey.

SOURCE: H & R Block

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