Difference between revisions of "Pierre Omidyar"

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{{person
 
{{person
 
|image=Pierre omidyar.jpg
 
|image=Pierre omidyar.jpg
 +
|description=Entrepreneur and deep state operative who is the founder and chairman of eBay, got control of the [[Snowden leaks]] by financing ''[[The Intercept]]''
 
|image_width=310px
 
|image_width=310px
 
|birth_date=21 June 1967
 
|birth_date=21 June 1967
 
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Omidyar
 
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Omidyar
−
|constitutes=businessman
+
|twitter=https://twitter.com/pierre
 +
|constitutes=Businessman, Billionaire
 
|spouses=Pamela Kerr Omidyar
 
|spouses=Pamela Kerr Omidyar
 
|alma_mater=Tufts University
 
|alma_mater=Tufts University
 
|birth_place=Paris, France
 
|birth_place=Paris, France
 +
|influencewatch=https://influencewatch.fireside.fm/226
 
|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pierre_Omidyar
 
|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pierre_Omidyar
 
|citizenship=United States
 
|citizenship=United States
 
|employment=
 
|employment=
 
}}
 
}}
−
'''Pierre Morad Omidyar''' is a French-born Iranian American entrepreneur who is the founder and chairman of the [[eBay]] auction site. He became a billionaire at the age of 31 with eBay's 1998 stock market flotation.<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/eBay-roars-into-public-trading/2100-1001_3-215908.html eBay roars into public trading] - C-Net 24 September 1998</ref> In 2019, [[Alexander Rubinstein]] and [[Max Blumenthal]] wrote an article entitled ''Pierre Omidyar: A Billionaire Prone to Reclusiveness and his Trove of State Surveillance Secrets''.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/pierre-omidyar-a-billionaire-prone-to-reclusiveness-and-his-trove-of-state-surveillance-secrets/255439/</ref>
+
'''Pierre Morad Omidyar''' is a French-born Iranian American entrepreneur who is the founder and chairman of the [[eBay|eBay auction site]]. He became a [[billionaire]] at the age of 31 with eBay's [[1998]] stock market flotation.<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/eBay-roars-into-public-trading/2100-1001_3-215908.html eBay roars into public trading] - C-Net 24 September 1998</ref> Omidyar and his wife [[Pamela Omidyar|Pamela]] founded [[Omidyar Network]] in [[2004]] "in order to expand their efforts beyond non-profits to include for-profits and public policy". Since [[2010]] Omidyar has been involved in online journalism as head of investigative reporting and public affairs news service ''Honolulu Civil Beat''.<ref>[http://www.civilbeat.com/ Honolulu Civil Beat]</ref> And in [[2013]] he financed a yet to be named journalism venture to include [[Glenn Greenwald]], [[Laura Poitras]], and [[Jeremy Scahill]].<ref>[http://cjr.org/the_audit/the_extraordinary_promise_of_t.php The extraordinary promise of the new Greenwald-Omidyar venture] - Columbia Journalism Review</ref><ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/glenn-greenwald-pierre-omidyar_n_4103026.html Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website] - Reuters via HuffPo</ref> The new venture, ''[[First Look Media]]'', went on to publish ''[[The Intercept]]'' in 2014.<ref>''[https://theintercept.com/about/ "About The Intercept"]''</ref>
−
 
 
−
Omidyar and his wife Pamela founded [[Omidyar Network]] in 2004 "in order to expand their efforts beyond non-profits to include for-profits and public policy". Since 2010 Omidyar has been involved in online journalism as head of investigative reporting and public affairs news service ''Honolulu Civil Beat''.<ref>[http://www.civilbeat.com/ Honolulu Civil Beat]</ref> And in 2013 he financed a yet to be named journalism venture to include [[Glenn Greenwald]], [[Laura Poitras]], and [[Jeremy Scahill]].<ref>[http://cjr.org/the_audit/the_extraordinary_promise_of_t.php The extraordinary promise of the new Greenwald-Omidyar venture] - Columbia Journalism Review}}</ref><ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/glenn-greenwald-pierre-omidyar_n_4103026.html Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website] - Reuters via HuffPo</ref> The new venture, ''[[First Look Media]]'', went on to publish ''[[The Intercept]]'' in 2014.<ref>''[https://theintercept.com/about/ "About The Intercept"]''</ref>
 
  
 
==Biography==
 
==Biography==
  
 
=== Personal life ===
 
=== Personal life ===
−
Omidyar was born in Paris, France to Iranian immigrant parents who had been sent by his grandparents to attend university there.<ref name=Viegas>Pierre Omidyar: The Founder of eBay - Jennifer Viegas, Rosen Publishing Group 2006 ISBN 978-1-4042-0715-8</ref> His mother Elahé Mir-Djalali Omidyar, who did her doctorate in linguistics at the Sorbonne, is a well-known academic.<ref name=Viegas /> The family moved to the US when Omidyar was a child.
+
Omidyar was born in [[Paris]], [[France]] to Iranian immigrant parents who had been sent by his grandparents to attend university there.<ref name=Viegas>Pierre Omidyar: The Founder of eBay - Jennifer Viegas, Rosen Publishing Group 2006 ISBN 978-1-4042-0715-8</ref> His mother Elahé Mir-Djalali Omidyar, who did her doctorate in linguistics at the Sorbonne, is a well-known academic.<ref name=Viegas /> The family moved to the US when Omidyar was a child.
  
−
Omidyar's interest in computers began while he was a student at The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia in the 9th grade. He graduated from St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland in 1984. Omidyar graduated from [[Tufts University]] in Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts with a bachelor's degree in computer science in 1988. Shortly after, Omidyar went to work for Claris, an Apple Computer subsidiary, where he worked on the team upgrading MacDraw to MacDraw II. In 1991, he co-founded Ink Development, a pen-based computing startup that was later rebranded as an e-commerce company and renamed eShop.
+
Omidyar's interest in computers began while he was a student at The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia in the 9th grade. He graduated from St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland in [[1984]]. Omidyar graduated from [[Tufts University]] in Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts with a bachelor's degree in computer science in [[1988]]. Shortly after, Omidyar went to work for Claris, an Apple Computer subsidiary, where he worked on the team upgrading MacDraw to MacDraw II. In [[1991]], he co-founded Ink Development, a pen-based computing startup that was later rebranded as an e-commerce company and renamed eShop.
  
 
=== eBay and later career ===
 
=== eBay and later career ===
−
In 1995, at the age of 28, Omidyar began to write the original computer code for an online venue to enable the listing of a direct person-to-person auction for collectible items. He created a simple prototype on his personal web page, and  on Labor Day, Monday, 4 September 1995 he launched an online service called Auction Web which would eventually become the auction site eBay.<ref name="academy">[http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/omi0bio-1 Academy of Achievement: Pierre Omidyar]</ref>
+
In [[1995]], at the age of 28, Omidyar began to write the original computer code for an online venue to enable the listing of a direct person-to-person auction for collectible items. He created a simple prototype on his personal web page, and  on Labor Day, Monday, 4 September [[1995]] he launched an online service called Auction Web which would eventually become the auction site [[eBay]].<ref name="academy">[http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/omi0bio-1 Academy of Achievement: Pierre Omidyar]</ref>
  
−
It was hosted on a server Omidyar had created for information on the ebola virus. The first item sold on the site was a broken laser pointer. Omidyar was astonished that anyone would pay for the device in its broken state, but the buyer assured him he was deliberately collecting broken laser pointers. Similar surprises followed. The business exploded as correspondents began to register trade goods of an unimaginable variety.
+
It was hosted on a server Omidyar had created for information on the [[ebola virus]]. The first item sold on the site was a broken laser pointer. Omidyar was astonished that anyone would pay for the device in its broken state, but the buyer assured him he was deliberately collecting broken laser pointers. Similar surprises followed. The business exploded as correspondents began to register trade goods of an unimaginable variety.
  
 
Omidyar incorporated the enterprise; the small fee he collected on each sale financed the expansion of the site. The revenue soon outstripped his salary at General Magic, and nine months later Omidyar decided to dedicate his full attention to his new enterprise.
 
Omidyar incorporated the enterprise; the small fee he collected on each sale financed the expansion of the site. The revenue soon outstripped his salary at General Magic, and nine months later Omidyar decided to dedicate his full attention to his new enterprise.
  
−
By 1996, when Omidyar signed a licensing deal to offer airline tickets online, the site had hosted 250,000 auctions. In the first month of 1997, it hosted 2 million. By the middle of that year, eBay was hosting nearly 800,000 auctions a day.<ref name="academy" />
+
By [[1996]], when Omidyar signed a licensing deal to offer airline tickets online, the site had hosted 250,000 auctions. In the first month of [[1997]], it hosted 2 million. By the middle of that year, eBay was hosting nearly 800,000 auctions a day.<ref name="academy" />
 +
 
 +
In [[1997]], Pierre Omidyar changed the company's name to [[eBay]] and began to advertise the service aggressively. The word "eBay" was made up on the fly by Omidyar when he was told that his first choice for his web site, "echobay", had already been registered. Not wanting to make a second trip to Sacramento, he came up with "eBay".  The frequently repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade Pez candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media. This was revealed in Adam Cohen's 2002 [[book]] <ref>The Perfect Store: Inside eBay - Adam Cohen, Back Bay Books 2002 ISBN 978-0-316-16493-1</ref> and confirmed by eBay. The service was free at first, but started charging in order to cover internet service provider costs. eBay still charges 10% of sales as a final sale fee.
  
−
In 1997, Pierre Omidyar changed the company's name to eBay and began to advertise the service aggressively. The word "eBay" was made up on the fly by Omidyar when he was told that his first choice for his web site, "echobay", had already been registered. Not wanting to make a second trip to Sacramento, he came up with "eBay".  The frequently repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade Pez candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media. This was revealed in Adam Cohen's 2002 book <ref>The Perfect Store: Inside eBay - Adam Cohen, Back Bay Books 2002 ISBN 978-0-316-16493-1</ref> and confirmed by eBay. The service was free at first, but started charging in order to cover internet service provider costs. eBay still charges 10% of sales as a final sale fee.
+
Jeffrey Skoll joined the company in [[1996]]. In March [[1998]], Meg Whitman was brought in as president and CEO, and continued to run the company until January [[2008]], when she announced her retirement. In September 1998, eBay launched a successful public offering, making both Omidyar and Skoll billionaires. [As of July 2008], Omidyar's 178 million eBay shares were worth around $4.45 billion.<ref>[http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=EBAY EBAY: Major Holders for eBay Inc.] - Yahoo! Finance 2010-02-25</ref> Omidyar is also an investor of Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, California.
  
−
Jeffrey Skoll joined the company in 1996. In March 1998, Meg Whitman was brought in as president and CEO, and continued to run the company until January 2008, when she announced her retirement. In September 1998, eBay launched a successful public offering, making both Omidyar and Skoll billionaires. [As of July 2008], Omidyar's 178 million eBay shares were worth around $4.45 billion.<ref>[http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=EBAY EBAY: Major Holders for eBay Inc.] - Yahoo! Finance 2010-02-25</ref> Omidyar is also an investor of Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, California.
+
In [[2010]], Omidyar launched online investigative reporting news service ''[http://www.civilbeat.com/ Honolulu Civil Beat]'' covering civic affairs in Hawaii. The site has been named Best News Website in Hawaii for three consecutive years.<ref>[http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/06/29/19424-civil-beat-named-best-hawaii-news-website-for-the-third-year-in-a-row/ Civil Beat Named Best Hawaii News Website for the Third Year in a Row] 2013-09-08</ref> On September 4, 2013, ''[http://www.civilbeat.com/ Honolulu Civil Beat]'' started a partnership with ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', launching the weblog's latest regional addition, ''HuffPost Hawaii''. In [[2013]] Omidyar financed a yet to be named journalism venture to include [[Glenn Greenwald]], [[Laura Poitras]], [[Jeremy Scahill]], [[Dan Froomkin]], and [[Jay Rosen]]<ref>[http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/11/nyus-jay-rosen-to-omidyar-venture-177711.htm NYU's Jay Rosen to join Omidyar venture] - Politicol November 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/glenn-greenwald-pierre-omidyar_n_4103026.html Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website] - Reuters via HuffPo</ref>
  
−
In 2010, Omidyar launched online investigative reporting news service ''[http://www.civilbeat.com/ Honolulu Civil Beat]'' covering civic affairs in Hawaii. The site has been named Best News Website in Hawaii for three consecutive years.<ref>[http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/06/29/19424-civil-beat-named-best-hawaii-news-website-for-the-third-year-in-a-row/ Civil Beat Named Best Hawaii News Website for the Third Year in a Row] 2013-09-08</ref> On September 4, 2013, ''[http://www.civilbeat.com/ Honolulu Civil Beat]'' started a partnership with ''The Huffington Post'', launching the weblog's latest regional addition, ''HuffPost Hawaii''. In 2013 Omidyar financed a yet to be named journalism venture to include [[Glenn Greenwald]], [[Laura Poitras]], [[Jeremy Scahill]], [[Dan Froomkin]], and [[Jay Rosen]]<ref>[http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/11/nyus-jay-rosen-to-omidyar-venture-177711.htm NYU's Jay Rosen to join Omidyar venture] - Politicol November 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/glenn-greenwald-pierre-omidyar_n_4103026.html Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website] - Reuters via HuffPo</ref>
+
His financial empire also includes a stake in luxury hotel operator Montage Hotels & Resorts and others.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20230508210138/http://www.scrible.com/contentview/page/A4IG1910I4L692JI0083O28F4MA4IGA6:97032428/index.html</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20210120134212/http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/Articles-Main/ID/8247/Pierre-Omidyar-The-Secret-Empire-of-a-Resort-Developer</ref>
  
 
== Omidyar Network ==
 
== Omidyar Network ==
 
{{FA|Omidyar Network}}
 
{{FA|Omidyar Network}}
−
'''Omidyar Network''' describes itself as a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic, social, and political change. <ref>[http://www.omidyar.com/ Omidyar Network web site] - December 2013</ref>
+
'''Omidyar Network''' describes itself as a [[philanthropic investment]] firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in [[2004]] by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic, social, and political change. <ref>[http://www.omidyar.com/ Omidyar Network web site] - December 2013</ref>
−
 
 
  
 
==The Intercept - A Honeytrap?==
 
==The Intercept - A Honeytrap?==
 
{{FA|The Intercept}}
 
{{FA|The Intercept}}
−
In January 2018, [[FBI]] whistleblower [[Sibel Edmonds]] asserted Pierre Omidyar had decided to create ''The Intercept'' to not only take ownership of the [[Edward Snowden|Snowden]] leaks but also to continue his blockade against [[WikiLeaks]] and create a “honey trap” for [[whistleblower]]s.<ref>''[https://www.mintpressnews.com/fbi-whistleblower-on-pierre-omidyar-campaign-to-neuter-wikileaks/236414/ "FBI Whistleblower on Pierre Omidyar and His Campaign to Neuter Wikileaks"]''</ref>
+
In January [[2018]], [[FBI]] whistleblower [[Sibel Edmonds]] asserted Pierre Omidyar had decided to create ''The Intercept'' to not only take ownership of the [[Edward Snowden|Snowden]] leaks but also to continue his blockade against [[WikiLeaks]] and create a “honey trap” for [[whistleblower]]s.<ref>''[https://www.mintpressnews.com/fbi-whistleblower-on-pierre-omidyar-campaign-to-neuter-wikileaks/236414/ "FBI Whistleblower on Pierre Omidyar and His Campaign to Neuter Wikileaks"]''</ref>
 +
{{SMWQ
 +
|text=There is truly nothing like Omidyar’s contradictory roles — fighting the empire, leaking the empire’s secrets, while also working hand-in-glove with the empire’s agencies to make the world more pliable to US government and corporate interests. Perhaps it reflects the multibillionaire’s [https://web.archive.org/web/20181227024645/http://www.scrible.com/contentview/page/A4IG1910I4L692JI0083O28F4MA4IGA6:97032428/index.html bizarre Howard Hughes-like schizophrenia]; perhaps it’s deliberate, a co-optation of the dissident activist wing. Perhaps there’s no rhyme or reason, only the effects — an eerie silence from nearly the entire activist community when it comes to holding Omidyar or his many endeavors accountable.
 +
|subjects=The Intercept
 +
|authors=Mark Ames
 +
|date=30 October 2014
 +
|source_details=
 +
|source_URL=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106171110/http://pando.com/2014/10/30/omidyar-funded-candidate-takes-seat-in-new-ukraine-parliament/
 +
}}
  
 +
In [[2019]], [[Alexander Rubinstein]] and [[Max Blumenthal]] wrote an article entitled ''Pierre Omidyar: A Billionaire Prone to Reclusiveness and his Trove of State Surveillance Secrets''.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/pierre-omidyar-a-billionaire-prone-to-reclusiveness-and-his-trove-of-state-surveillance-secrets/255439/</ref>
  
 
== Wealth ==
 
== Wealth ==
−
According to Forbes, Pierre Omidyar has net worth $8.5 billion (US) as of December 2013, making him the 123rd richest person in the world. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/ The World's Billionaires]- Forbes 10 December 2013 D</ref>
+
According to [[Forbes]], Pierre Omidyar has net worth $8.5 billion (US) as of December [[2013]], making him the 123rd richest person in the world. <ref>[http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/ The World's Billionaires]- Forbes 10 December 2013 D</ref>
  
 
== Opinions on Surveillance ==
 
== Opinions on Surveillance ==
−
[[image:OmidyarTweet.png|right]]
+
[[image:OmidyarTweet.png|right|thumb|450px]]
−
Omidyar has [[Document:Omidyar’s_PayPal_Corporation_Said_To_Be_Implicated_in_Withheld_NSA_Documents|defended NSA surveillance]] and on July 16, 2009, he tweeted "Anybody who publishes stolen info should help catch the thief".<ref>http://archive.today/2021.09.21-232308/https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/409543456776679425</ref><ref>https://pando.com/2013/12/07/pierre-omidyar-in-2009-anybody-who-publishes-stolen-info-should-help-catch-the-thief/</ref>
+
Omidyar has [[Document:Omidyar’s_PayPal_Corporation_Said_To_Be_Implicated_in_Withheld_NSA_Documents|defended NSA surveillance]] and on July 16, 2009, he tweeted "Anybody who publishes stolen info should help catch the thief".<ref>http://archive.today/2019.05.12-215032/https://twitter.com/pierre/status/2666071620</ref><ref>http://archive.today/2021.09.21-232308/https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/409543456776679425</ref><ref>https://pando.com/2013/12/07/pierre-omidyar-in-2009-anybody-who-publishes-stolen-info-should-help-catch-the-thief/</ref>
−
 
 
−
 
 
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{{SMWDocs}}
 
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
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* [http://www.omidyar.com/ Omidyar Network]
 
* [http://www.omidyar.com/ Omidyar Network]
 
* [http://pando.com/2014/02/28/pierre-omidyar-co-funded-ukraine-revolution-groups-with-us-government-documents-show/ Pierre Omidyar co-funded Ukraine revolution groups with US government, documents show] - Pando Daily 28 February 2014
 
* [http://pando.com/2014/02/28/pierre-omidyar-co-funded-ukraine-revolution-groups-with-us-government-documents-show/ Pierre Omidyar co-funded Ukraine revolution groups with US government, documents show] - Pando Daily 28 February 2014
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== References ==
 
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<references/>
 
  
 
{{PageCredit
 
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|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Omidyar
 
|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Omidyar
 
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{{SMWDocs}}
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== References ==
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<references/>

Latest revision as of 14:45, 3 December 2023

Tools.png This page could use some information related to Saving Agent Snowden From His Handlers Greenwald & Omidyar, Pierre Omidyar: giving until it hurts and elsewhere - see Wikispooks documents related to this page

Person.png Pierre Omidyar   Influencewatch Sourcewatch TwitterRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(Businessman, Billionaire)
Pierre omidyar.jpg
Born21 June 1967
Paris, France
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materTufts University
SpousePamela Kerr Omidyar
Founder ofDemocracy Fund, Luminate, Omidyar Network, The Intercept
Member of21st Century Council, The Giving Pledge, WEF/Global Leaders for Tomorrow/1999
Entrepreneur and deep state operative who is the founder and chairman of eBay, got control of the Snowden leaks by financing The Intercept

Pierre Morad Omidyar is a French-born Iranian American entrepreneur who is the founder and chairman of the eBay auction site. He became a billionaire at the age of 31 with eBay's 1998 stock market flotation.[1] Omidyar and his wife Pamela founded Omidyar Network in 2004 "in order to expand their efforts beyond non-profits to include for-profits and public policy". Since 2010 Omidyar has been involved in online journalism as head of investigative reporting and public affairs news service Honolulu Civil Beat.[2] And in 2013 he financed a yet to be named journalism venture to include Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill.[3][4] The new venture, First Look Media, went on to publish The Intercept in 2014.[5]

Biography

Personal life

Omidyar was born in Paris, France to Iranian immigrant parents who had been sent by his grandparents to attend university there.[6] His mother Elahé Mir-Djalali Omidyar, who did her doctorate in linguistics at the Sorbonne, is a well-known academic.[6] The family moved to the US when Omidyar was a child.

Omidyar's interest in computers began while he was a student at The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia in the 9th grade. He graduated from St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland in 1984. Omidyar graduated from Tufts University in Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts with a bachelor's degree in computer science in 1988. Shortly after, Omidyar went to work for Claris, an Apple Computer subsidiary, where he worked on the team upgrading MacDraw to MacDraw II. In 1991, he co-founded Ink Development, a pen-based computing startup that was later rebranded as an e-commerce company and renamed eShop.

eBay and later career

In 1995, at the age of 28, Omidyar began to write the original computer code for an online venue to enable the listing of a direct person-to-person auction for collectible items. He created a simple prototype on his personal web page, and on Labor Day, Monday, 4 September 1995 he launched an online service called Auction Web which would eventually become the auction site eBay.[7]

It was hosted on a server Omidyar had created for information on the ebola virus. The first item sold on the site was a broken laser pointer. Omidyar was astonished that anyone would pay for the device in its broken state, but the buyer assured him he was deliberately collecting broken laser pointers. Similar surprises followed. The business exploded as correspondents began to register trade goods of an unimaginable variety.

Omidyar incorporated the enterprise; the small fee he collected on each sale financed the expansion of the site. The revenue soon outstripped his salary at General Magic, and nine months later Omidyar decided to dedicate his full attention to his new enterprise.

By 1996, when Omidyar signed a licensing deal to offer airline tickets online, the site had hosted 250,000 auctions. In the first month of 1997, it hosted 2 million. By the middle of that year, eBay was hosting nearly 800,000 auctions a day.[7]

In 1997, Pierre Omidyar changed the company's name to eBay and began to advertise the service aggressively. The word "eBay" was made up on the fly by Omidyar when he was told that his first choice for his web site, "echobay", had already been registered. Not wanting to make a second trip to Sacramento, he came up with "eBay". The frequently repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade Pez candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media. This was revealed in Adam Cohen's 2002 book [8] and confirmed by eBay. The service was free at first, but started charging in order to cover internet service provider costs. eBay still charges 10% of sales as a final sale fee.

Jeffrey Skoll joined the company in 1996. In March 1998, Meg Whitman was brought in as president and CEO, and continued to run the company until January 2008, when she announced her retirement. In September 1998, eBay launched a successful public offering, making both Omidyar and Skoll billionaires. [As of July 2008], Omidyar's 178 million eBay shares were worth around $4.45 billion.[9] Omidyar is also an investor of Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, California.

In 2010, Omidyar launched online investigative reporting news service Honolulu Civil Beat covering civic affairs in Hawaii. The site has been named Best News Website in Hawaii for three consecutive years.[10] On September 4, 2013, Honolulu Civil Beat started a partnership with The Huffington Post, launching the weblog's latest regional addition, HuffPost Hawaii. In 2013 Omidyar financed a yet to be named journalism venture to include Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Jeremy Scahill, Dan Froomkin, and Jay Rosen[11][12]

His financial empire also includes a stake in luxury hotel operator Montage Hotels & Resorts and others.[13][14]

Omidyar Network

Full article: Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network describes itself as a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic, social, and political change. [15]

The Intercept - A Honeytrap?

Full article: The Intercept

In January 2018, FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds asserted Pierre Omidyar had decided to create The Intercept to not only take ownership of the Snowden leaks but also to continue his blockade against WikiLeaks and create a “honey trap” for whistleblowers.[16]

“There is truly nothing like Omidyar’s contradictory roles — fighting the empire, leaking the empire’s secrets, while also working hand-in-glove with the empire’s agencies to make the world more pliable to US government and corporate interests. Perhaps it reflects the multibillionaire’s bizarre Howard Hughes-like schizophrenia; perhaps it’s deliberate, a co-optation of the dissident activist wing. Perhaps there’s no rhyme or reason, only the effects — an eerie silence from nearly the entire activist community when it comes to holding Omidyar or his many endeavors accountable.”
Mark Ames (30 October 2014)  [17]

In 2019, Alexander Rubinstein and Max Blumenthal wrote an article entitled Pierre Omidyar: A Billionaire Prone to Reclusiveness and his Trove of State Surveillance Secrets.[18]

Wealth

According to Forbes, Pierre Omidyar has net worth $8.5 billion (US) as of December 2013, making him the 123rd richest person in the world. [19]

Opinions on Surveillance

OmidyarTweet.png

Omidyar has defended NSA surveillance and on July 16, 2009, he tweeted "Anybody who publishes stolen info should help catch the thief".[20][21][22]

External links

Wikipedia.png This page imported content from Wikipedia on 9 December 2013.
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Event Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
WEF/Annual Meeting/200421 January 200425 January 2004Switzerland
World Economic Forum		2068 billionaires, CEOs and their politicians and "civil society" leaders met under the slogan Partnering for Prosperity and Security. "We have the people who matter," said World Economic Forum Co-Chief Executive Officer José María Figueres.

 

Related Documents

TitleTypePublication dateAuthor(s)Description
Document:Checkbook Journalism & Leaking to the Highest Biddersarticle8 December 2013Sibel EdmondsA hard-hitting article on the Edward Snowden affair. Its author speaks with considerable authority on matters concerning intel/security whistle-blowing matters in the USA
Document:Green-Light for Greenwald: Government Duplicity or Government Duality?article14 December 2013Sibel EdmondsSibel Edmonds illustrates the importance of behaviour patterns in divining the underlying relationships between State approved institutions and those claiming Whistleblower status or speaking on behalf of Whistleblowers. She poses some serious questions that require answers from both Edwar Snowden and Glenn Greenwald
Document:Greenwald-Omidyar Joint Venture: The Blurring Lines Between Being A Source & Being A Journalistarticle13 December 2013Sibel Edmonds
Document:Mr Snowden, It’s Time to Come Out and Take a Stand Publicly as to Your Intentionsarticle15 December 2013Sibel Edmonds
Document:Omidyar-Greenwald-Rosenarticle15 December 2013Anonymous
Document:Omidyar’s PayPal Corporation Said To Be Implicated in Withheld NSA Documentsarticle11 December 2013Sibel Edmonds
Document:Pierre Omidyar: giving until it hurtsarticle7 December 2013David Carr"No billionaire media mogul is ever going to be in the service of working people, no matter how much rhetoric about freedom of speech is deployed in the promotion of his or her product..."
Document:Saving Agent Snowden From His Handlers Greenwald & Omidyararticle24 October 2013Yoichi ShimatsuA long article on the Edward Sowden affair and the proposed 'alternative news' and whistleblowing-transparency initiative recently announced by Glenn Greenwald of Edward Snowden and Wikileaks revelations fame. It also contains plausible information about SIS involvement during the flight of Edward Snowden to Moscow via Hong Kong.
Document:Selling Secrets?article1 December 2013Glenn GreenwaldGlenn Greenwald's personal apologia - cum - mia-culpa. Written in response to devastating criticism of his motives and actions in the Edward Snowden affair to date.
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References

  1. ↑ eBay roars into public trading - C-Net 24 September 1998
  2. ↑ Honolulu Civil Beat
  3. ↑ The extraordinary promise of the new Greenwald-Omidyar venture - Columbia Journalism Review
  4. ↑ Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website - Reuters via HuffPo
  5. ↑ "About The Intercept"
  6. ↑ a b Pierre Omidyar: The Founder of eBay - Jennifer Viegas, Rosen Publishing Group 2006 ISBN 978-1-4042-0715-8
  7. ↑ a b Academy of Achievement: Pierre Omidyar
  8. ↑ The Perfect Store: Inside eBay - Adam Cohen, Back Bay Books 2002 ISBN 978-0-316-16493-1
  9. ↑ EBAY: Major Holders for eBay Inc. - Yahoo! Finance 2010-02-25
  10. ↑ Civil Beat Named Best Hawaii News Website for the Third Year in a Row 2013-09-08
  11. ↑ NYU's Jay Rosen to join Omidyar venture - Politicol November 2013
  12. ↑ Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website - Reuters via HuffPo
  13. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230508210138/http://www.scrible.com/contentview/page/A4IG1910I4L692JI0083O28F4MA4IGA6:97032428/index.html
  14. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210120134212/http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/Articles-Main/ID/8247/Pierre-Omidyar-The-Secret-Empire-of-a-Resort-Developer
  15. ↑ Omidyar Network web site - December 2013
  16. ↑ "FBI Whistleblower on Pierre Omidyar and His Campaign to Neuter Wikileaks"
  17. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150106171110/http://pando.com/2014/10/30/omidyar-funded-candidate-takes-seat-in-new-ukraine-parliament/
  18. ↑ https://www.mintpressnews.com/pierre-omidyar-a-billionaire-prone-to-reclusiveness-and-his-trove-of-state-surveillance-secrets/255439/
  19. ↑ The World's Billionaires- Forbes 10 December 2013 D
  20. ↑ http://archive.today/2019.05.12-215032/https://twitter.com/pierre/status/2666071620
  21. ↑ http://archive.today/2021.09.21-232308/https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/409543456776679425
  22. ↑ https://pando.com/2013/12/07/pierre-omidyar-in-2009-anybody-who-publishes-stolen-info-should-help-catch-the-thief/
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