Pierre Omidyar (b. 1967)

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Biography

Pierre Morad Omidyar is a French-born Iranian-American billionaire. A technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and philanthropist, he is the founder of eBay, where he served as chairman from 1998 to 2015. Omidyar is the grandson of the Imperial Iranian Army General Mahmud Mir-Djalali, who was instrumental in the 1921 rise of the Pahlavi Dynasty, the overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh, and the building out of Iran's Mechanized Artillery Forces and Defense Industries. As of 2023, Forbes ranked Omidyar as the 245th-richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $8.7 billion.

Timeline

The story of Pierre Omidyar, told in moments.

1967 Birth

Born Parviz Morad Omidyar in Paris. His parents were Iranian immigrants. The family moved to Maryland when he was a child. He taught himself to code as a teenager.

Did teaching yourself to code feel like play or purpose? How did moving from Paris to Maryland shape you? Was your parents' Iranian heritage a factor in your ambitions?

1995 Event

Launched AuctionWeb from his living room in San Jose. The first item sold was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. He asked the buyer if they knew it was broken. "I collect broken laser pointers," they said.

Did 'I collect broken laser pointers' change how you saw the internet? Was AuctionWeb a business plan or an experiment? How did you know strangers would trust each other online?

1997 Event

Renamed the site eBay. By the end of the year, it hosted 800,000 auctions. The company went public in 1998. Omidyar became a billionaire overnight at 31.

Did becoming a billionaire overnight at 31 feel real? What changed when AuctionWeb became eBay? Were you prepared for what 800,000 auctions meant?

2004 Life

Launched the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm. He's given over $1 billion to causes including civil liberties, journalism, and microfinance.

Why give away over a billion dollars? Does philanthropy feel like obligation or calling? What cause matters most to you?