Photo: Joi 15:42, 2 August 2007 (UTC) / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Pierre Omidyar

ピエール・オミダイア　/　ぴえーる・おみだいあ

Philanthropist from France

June 21, 1967 (age 58)　・　Paris, France

philanthropist
entrepreneur
economist

My Take

What strikes me about Pierre Omidyar is how thoroughly he moved past the thing that made him famous. Founding eBay in the 1990s would be enough of a legacy for most people, but he stepped back as chairman in 2015 and poured himself into philanthropy instead. I find the French-born, Iranian-American background quietly fascinating too, because it complicates the tidy Silicon Valley founder story we usually get. The Tufts education and that 2012 French National Order of Merit hint at someone whose reach went well beyond auctions and software. He reads to me as a builder who got more interested in giving money away than making it.

Overview

Pierre Morad Omidyar (born Parviz Morad Omidyar, June 21, 1967) is a French-born Iranian-American billionaire. A technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and philanthropist, he is the founder of eBay, where he served as chairman from 1998 to 2015.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1. Profile

Name (English): Pierre Omidyar
Name (Japanese): ピエール・オミダイア
Reading: ぴえーる・おみだいあ
Born: June 21, 1967 (age 58)
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Gemini / Goat
Origin: Paris, France
Blood type: Private
Height: Private
Agency: Private
Occupation: philanthropist / entrepreneur / economist / programmer / computer scientist

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Private
University: Tufts University

Awards & achievements

White House Fellows
2012 Knight of the National Order of Merit
2006 Great Immigrants Award

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

6. Links

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