Pierre Omidyar Net Worth & Biography

Pierre Omidyar is a successful businessman and philanthropist who is reputed as the founder of eBay. The company was created in 1995 by Pierre based on his interest in creating uninterrupted access to markets and trust in humanity. Today, eBay provides many people around the world with an equal opportunity to connect and prosper over common interests. As an innovator, philanthropist, and technologist, Pierre is driven by the impression that change is possible given the right blend of innovation, insight, talent, and timing. The Omidyar Group which he founded, creates, funds, and promotes a diverse collection of initiatives and organizations. Working across sectors and geographies, Mr. Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam have donated more than $3 billion to causes ranging from human rights to government accountability, to economic advancement for the underserved, and press freedom initiatives. In 2011, the husband and wife were honored with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for the impact of their work. To also include, Pierre is the founder of First Look Media – a media company that is devoted to supporting independent voices. At home in Hawaii, he is the founder and publisher of a local news service known as Honolulu Civil Beat which encourages greater civic engagement through media. Furthermore, he is a director emeritus of the eBay board of directors and a trustee of Santa Fe Institute and Punahou School. More details follow below.

Early Life: Childhood, Family, Education

Pierre Morad Omidyar was born in Paris, France, on June 21, 1967. His parents were Iranian settlers, Elahé Mir-Djalali Omidyar, and her husband. His father was employed at Johns Hopkins University as a surgeon and his mother is a renowned linguistics scholar. They later settled down in the United States where the young Pierre attended the Potomac School in Virginia. He eventually completed his high school education at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Maryland in 1984.

Pierre attended Tufts University in Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1988 with his bachelor’s degree, with a specialization in computer science.

After graduating, he worked at a company called Claris for a few years. The company was specialized in the development of certain softwares, some of which are used by Apple Inc.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career

In 1991, this software enthusiast collaborated with Arnold Blinn, Matt Kursh, Greg Stein, and Will Poole to establish a small-scale pen computing company which they called Ink Development. Two years afterward, the founders of Ink Development rebranded the company to eShop and started to focus their business on e-commerce.

On September 4, 1995, Pierre inaugurated a website called Auction Web, which allowed people to buy and sell items on the internet. Within a span of twelve months, the brilliant entrepreneur acquired the license to sell flight tickets on the website. In 1996, he also hired the skilled engineer Jeffrey Skoll to his work on Auction Web.

In 1997, the website, Auction Web, was renamed eBay. During the same period auctions of things on sale had hit a daily average of 800,000. The following year, another competent businessman was employed as the company’s chief executive officer. The eBay business continued to prosper, bringing home billions of dollars for all the co-founders of the internet site.

In 2004, along with his wife Pamela, Pierre founded the Omidyar Network, which supports the growth of small businesses by providing them with finance.

Pierre also takes a profound interest in digital media, launching the news website Honolulu Civil Beat in 2010. Since then the news platform has won the award for Best News Website on several occasions.

On February 10, 2014, the successful media tycoon established a journalism company which he called First Look Media, and its subsidiary, The Intercept. The company specializes in delivering online news and is made up of renowned journalists that include names like Laura Poitras, Jeremy Scahill, Dan Froomkin, and Glenn Greenwald.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

Pierre’s major work is his founding of eBay, which was launched as a small-scale e-business website, and has now turned into a successful establishment and one of the biggest online businesses in the world. This company has fetched Pierre billions of dollars and has also launched several subsidiaries including Half.com, Kijiji, and StubHub.

In 1999, he won the EY Entrepreneur of The Year award, and in 2011, his alma mater, Tufts University, awarded him an honorary doctorate in Public Service.

In 2000,  Awards Council member Quincy Jones presented him with a Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. Richtopia named him the Third Most Influential French Entrepreneur in the year 2018.

In 2011, he and his wife were honored with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for the impact of their philanthropic efforts.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests

Pierre has been married to Pamela Wesley for several years now. She is a biology graduate and also a co-founder of most of his ventures. Together, they have been blessed with three children.

In 2010, Pierre Omidyar, along with his wife and Richard Branson, in addition to the Nduna Foundation, established the Enterprise Zimbabwe, as an institution dedicated to helping Zimbabwe develop its economy.

Pierre Omidyar Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

This Iranian-American entrepreneur is one of the wealthiest people in the world, having made his riches from the profits earned by his company eBay.

As it stands, Pierre Omidyar’s net worth is about $24 billion. He became a billionaire on the same day that his company, eBay, went public in September 1998. In 2022, he is recognized as the richest person in Hawaii. He is also one of the wealthiest people of Iran ancestry.