Quotes by Pierre Omidyar

About Pierre Omidyar:

Pierre Morad Omidyar is a French-born Iranian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder of the eBay auction site, and served as Chairman from 1998 to 2015. He became a billionaire at the age of 31 with eBay's 1998 Initial Public Offering (IPO). Omidyar and his wife Pamela are well-known philanthropists who founded Omidyar Network in 2004 in order to expand their efforts beyond nonprofits to include for-profits and public policy.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A well-functioning microfinance bank can actually be a profitable business as well. So it became a perfect proof point that, through business, you can provide an experience that leads to individual self-empowerment.

Pierre Omidyar

In order to access private capital, you have to provide competitive return on investment. In order to give competitive returns to investors, you've got to operate on a profitable basis and be thinking of yourself as a business.

Pierre Omidyar

Long-term sustainable change happens if people discover their own power.

Pierre Omidyar

Technologists come at a problem from the point of view that the system is working a certain way, and if I engage in that system and actually change the rules of the system, I can make it work a different way.

Pierre Omidyar

I had the notion that, OK, so now we have all of this wealth, we could buy not only one expensive car, we could buy all of them. As soon as you realize that you could buy all of them, then none of them are particularly interesting or satisfying.

Pierre Omidyar

My dad was a physician. As a kid, I remember driving around with him on weekends so he could do his rounds at the hospital and talk to patients. We'd spend time in the car talking about what was going on with them, their stories.

Pierre Omidyar

What I'm really focused on is connecting people around shared interests, so together they can make good stuff happen. I'm more focused on helping people discover their power as individuals, but through those connections with one another.

Pierre Omidyar

In the early days of eBay, I articulated for the very first time this belief that people are basically good.

Pierre Omidyar

Microfinance initiatives are very high-touch models. The loan officer meets with local groups of borrowers every week, they share tips and techniques. There's a lot of training and learning that goes on, which adds to the cost of the model.

Pierre Omidyar

You can invest in companies, you can help grow companies, you can be a venture capitalist - and be a philanthropist at the same time.

Pierre Omidyar

What makes eBay successful - the real value and the real power at eBay - is the community. It's the buyers and sellers coming together and forming a marketplace.

Pierre Omidyar

Ebay's success as a company depends on the success of the community of sellers.

Pierre Omidyar

I developed an interest in supporting independent journalists in a way that leverages their work to the greatest extent possible, all in support of the public interest.

Pierre Omidyar

Author Bio

  • NamePierre Omidyar
  • DescriptionFrench-born Iranian American entrepreneur and philanthropist
  • BornJune 21, 1967
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPhilanthropist; Entrepreneur; Economist