Pierre Omidyar (born 21 June, 1967) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, and the founder and chairman of the eBay auction site. Born in Paris, France to a French-Iranian family, Omidyar moved to the US at the age of 6. Growing up in Washington, D.C., he developed an interest in computing while still at high school. In 1988 he graduated in computer science from Tufts University, and joined Claris, an Apple subsidiary, where he helped write MacDraw. In 1991 he co-founded Ink Development, a pen-based computing startup that was later rebranded as an e-commerce company (and renamed eShop).
Pierre Omidyar was just 28 when he sat down over a long holiday weekend to write the original computer code for what eventually became an internet superbrand - the auction site eBay.
However, it wasn't actually called that at the time of its launch on Labor Day, Monday, 4 September, 1995. It first appeared under the more prosaic title of Auction Web; it was hosted on the same site as Omidyar had created for information on the ebola virus. It was later renamed after the site's ___domain name ebay.com (a shortening of Echo Bay, Omidyar's consulting firm). The service was free at first, but started charging in order to cover his internet service provider costs.
In 1996 Jeffrey Skoll, a Stanford MBA, joined the company and by 1998 eBay had gone public, making Omidyar a billionaire -- 3 years after he created eBay. As of 2005, Omidyar's 214 million eBay shares are worth around $8 billion. In March 1998, Meg Whitman was brought in as President and CEO.
Omidyar and his wife Pam are well-known philanthropists who founded the Omidyar Network. They promote what has come to be called "venture philanthropy", in which foundations are expected to achieve quick results and financial independence. Perhaps one example of such is Meetup, a website Omidyar didn't found himself but later invested in, and on whose Board of Directors he now sits.
Omidyar also has donated $100 million to Tufts University to support programs to spur microfinancing in developing countries for entrepreneurs who want to start their own businesses.