Pierre Omidyar

Pierre Omidyar
Omidyar in 2007
Born
Parviz Morad Omidyar

(1967-06-21) June 21, 1967
Paris, France
CitizenshipIran[1][2][3]
France[4]
United States[5]
EducationTufts University (BS)
Occupation(s)Founder of eBay
Founder of Honolulu Civil Beat
Founder of Ulupono Initiative
Founder of Omidyar Network
Founder of First Look Media
Board member ofeBay
SpousePamela Kerr

Pierre Morad Omidyar (born Parviz Morad Omidyar, June 21, 1967) is a French-born Iranian-American billionaire. A technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and philanthropist,[6] he is founder of eBay, where he served as chairman from 1998 to 2015.[7][6] Omidyar is the grandson of the Imperial Iranian Army General Mahmud Mir-Djalali, who was instrumental in the 1921 rise of the Pahlavi Dynasty and the building out of Iran's Mechanized Artillery Forces and Defense Industries.[8] As of 2023, Forbes ranked Omidyar as the 245th-richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $8.7 billion.[9]

Omidyar and his wife Pamela founded Omidyar Network in 2004, becoming a long-term Democratic Party donor.[10] Since 2010, he has been involved in online journalism as the head of investigative reporting and public affairs news service Honolulu Civil Beat.[11] In 2013, he announced that he would create and finance First Look Media, a journalism venture to include Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill.[12][13][14]

  1. ^ "Pierre Omidyiar, post baba, Français et milliardaire". L'Express (in French). November 1, 2002. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  2. ^ "Caramail, PriceMinister, Net2One... que sont devenus leurs fondateurs ?". Capital (in French). Archived from the original on August 25, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "Pierre Omidyar, le fondateur français d'eBay". www.journaldunet.com (in French). September 30, 2010. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. ^ Beuth, Marie-catherine (August 17, 2014). "Le Figaro profile: Pierre Omidyar, le mécène". Le Figaro. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  5. ^ "Pierre Omidyar". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Pierre Omidyar". US Virtual Embassy Iran. January 1, 2015. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  7. ^ Viegas 2006, p. 13
  8. ^ Alirezaijan 2025, p. 186-189.
  9. ^ "Pierre Omidyar". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  10. ^ Perlberg, Steven (April 24, 2019). "How the Intercept Is Fueling the Democratic Civil War". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  11. ^ "Hawaii News - Honolulu Civil Beat - Investigative Reporting". Civil Beat. Archived from the original on June 1, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
  12. ^ "The extraordinary promise of the new Greenwald-Omidyar venture (UPDATED)". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  13. ^ Hosenball, Mark (October 15, 2013). "Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website". Huffpost. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019.
  14. ^ Jay Rosen (December 19, 2013). "A First Look at NewCo's structure". Pressthink.org. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2013.