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As founder and chairman of eBay Pierre Omidyar changed the face of Internet commerce in 1995 when he launched eBay to experiment how equal access to information and opportunities would affect the efficiency of a marketplace. Ten years later his experiment continues to prove the benefits of a level playing field: hundreds of thousands of members make their living entirely on eBay more than 150 million people trust strangers with every transaction and people find common ground where none seemed to exist before.
When Pierre launched eBay as a hobby his "day job" was conducting developer relations for General Magic. Prior to General Magic he co-founded Ink Development Corp. which was renamed eShop and acquired by Microsoft. His career began in the software engineering business as a developer for Claris a subsidiary of Apple Computer where he worked on consumer applications.
Today Pierre is CEO of Omidyar Network a mission-based investment group he established with his wife Pam in June 2004. Omidyar Network is committed to fostering individual self-empowerment across the economic political and social realms. The Network funds for-profits nonprofits and public policy efforts that promote level playing fields collaboration and rich connections around shared interests to enable individuals to pursue what matters most to them.
In addition to his roles with eBay and Omidyar Network Pierre serves as a Trustee of Tufts University and Santa Fe Institute and a Director of Meetup Inc.
Pierre graduated from Tufts University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in computer science | 