eBay Inc is one of the world’s largest e-commerce and online auction platforms — connecting millions of buyers and sellers across 190 markets globally. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, eBay pioneered consumer-to-consumer (C2C) online commerce and remains a publicly traded company on NASDAQ. Unlike Amazon’s direct-sales model, eBay operates primarily as a marketplace — earning commissions from third-party transactions rather than holding inventory.
| Full Name | eBay Inc |
| Founded | September 3, 1995 — San Jose, California, USA |
| Founder | Pierre Omidyar |
| Listed | NASDAQ: EBAY |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California, USA |
| CEO | Jamie Iannone (since April 2020) |
| Active Buyers | ~132 million globally |
| Annual Revenue | ~$9–10 billion (2024) |
Who Owns eBay?
eBay Inc is a publicly traded company on NASDAQ (ticker: EBAY). As a widely held public company, no single individual or entity holds a controlling stake. The largest shareholders are major institutional investors:
| Shareholder | Approximate Stake | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Group | ~9–10% | Largest institutional shareholder |
| BlackRock | ~6–7% | Major index fund manager |
| State Street | ~4–5% | Index fund / ETF holdings |
| Pierre Omidyar (Founder) | Minimal / divested | Original founder; largely sold down over decades |
eBay’s History
Pierre Omidyar founded eBay on September 3, 1995, originally as AuctionWeb — a site where he listed a broken laser pointer for sale (it sold for $14.83 to a collector of broken laser pointers). The experiment proved that people would buy almost anything online. AuctionWeb was rebranded eBay in 1997. Meg Whitman joined as CEO in 1998 and oversaw explosive growth through the dot-com era. eBay acquired PayPal in 2002 — its most transformative move — which it later spun off in 2015. The company also spun off its enterprise business (StubHub) and classified ads division (Classifieds Group / Adevinta). Today, under CEO Jamie Iannone, eBay focuses on enthusiast buyers in categories like collectibles, trading cards, luxury watches, auto parts, and electronics — differentiating from Amazon through niche and second-hand merchandise.
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Dear EBAY!
The seller’s company is gone, cheating
ORDER DATE
Order number
174041988538-2063085680007
SOLD BY
lfz-43 (1 item
Product number: 174041988538
I ordered a nail builder lamp, which I paid on September 28th. The seller company from which I ordered this product is no longer a registered user on Ebay.
Sold by lfz-43 (42)
Order number: 04-03931-06693 I ordered a uw lamp from the seller! It was written that I would get my money back!
I’m not comforted that my money is back! In this case the jar is the compensation !!! This is a crime in Hungary! In that case, I’m waiting for $ 50,000 in damages !!! You can’t afford an international online business like Ebay! Since the fact is not $ 8.88, the amount of compensation in such cases will be much higher!
Give me an amount I like, not $ 8.88!
As soon as I write down the amount requested, I get a refund, and it’s reassuring! I missed school for 4 days due to ultraviolet! I paid hard for the course! The course cost $ 1,500 because I was almost kicked out for my four-day absence! Now you understand why I’m asking for a compensation bonus! Either I get $ 50,000 or agree on a fair amount, which is acceptable to me! In return, I ignore the incident and do not report to the International Bureau of Investigation and Hungary!
Looking forward to your reply!