Pierre Omidyar (Launched eBay) - Entrepreneur Profile October 31

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Pierre Omidyar photoName: Pierre Omidyar

Date of Birth: 21/6/1967

Mini CV: - Helped write MacDraw when working for Apple subsidiary Claris

- Founded Ink Development, later renamed eShop, in 1991

- Launched eBay, previously Auction Web, in September 1995

- Achieved billionaire status after company went public three years later

- Formed the Omidyar Network for investment in various enterprises and efforts in 2004

Among the mottos displayed on the front page of the website for the Omidyar Network, among whose aims is to promote self-sufficiency and empowerment in business, is the statement: “We exist for one single purpose: So that more and more people discover their own power to make good things happen.” Having soared to billionaire success through eBay, now one of the most recognised and highly-valued online brands in the world, the Paris-born Pierre Omidyar is well placed to assist in this voyage of discovery. eBay started out as, effectively, an experimental side-venture for Omidyar � even though the story that he only set eBay up to help his then fiancee expand her collection of Pez dispensers was proved to be a PR ruse - and he has seen it grow into something which thrives on a remarkably firm sense of trust and social responsibility between strangers.

It is this social conscience which compelled him to set up the Omidyar Network - the vastness of which can largely be attributed to the huge success of eBay. The varied pieces which bind eBay into such a tight, cohesive, successful service can be encapsulated by the broken laser printer which Omidyar sold to a collector in the first transaction ever carried out on the site. It has brought together millions of businesspeople and private collectors on the simple premise that they will be able to find what they want - and as a result overtook Amazon as the world’s most-visited e-commerce site in 2001.

Omidyar has become a well-known philanthropist - fame and fortune came quickly and perhaps unexpectedly to him, and he has always sought to maintain a fairly straightforward existence. He even continued driving his relatively humble Volkswagen Golf after eBay’s fortunes skyrocketed. His most recent endeavours have been in microfinance � having joined forces with Tufts University to set up the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund, which seeks to develop microfinance in developing countries as a means of triggering economic self-sustainability.

Perhaps his biggest strength has been his - and his enterprises’ - desire and willingness to see people prosper. There is a democratic principle behind eBay,a sense that the feelings of respect and obligation between people who may not know each other can collectively hold up a fully-functioning network which supports millions and effectively provides a livelihood for many of its private users. In this way eBay is itself a vessel for entrepreneurship, with countless online companies effectively operating through this means alone.

Curiosity fuelled eBay - how was Omidyar to create an online method of conducting person-to-person auctions? He wanted to find out, and did so in what was effectively a spare time venture before discovering a dazzling conclusion to a virtually unheard-of concept. Quite simply, he came up with the solution to a relatively simple concept which the public was waiting to foster. After its initial success he demonstrated enough faith in his online consumer base to devote sole attention to it, and such trust paid off. You won’t hear Omidyar’s name commonly shouted from the rooftops, but maybe you should � because his blend of open-mindedness, generosity and sharp grasp of business possibilities has helped fuel his own dreams and those of many thousands of other businesspeople.

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