Word: omidyar
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Dates: during 1998-1998
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Interest will probably surge following eBay's initial public offering of stock last week. The shares, priced at $18, more than doubled in value by week's end, leaving the firm's founder, Pierre Omidyar, 31, with a stake worth more than $600 million. Inspired by a girlfriend who wanted to trade Pez candy dispensers on the Net, Omidyar launched eBay in 1995 and--a rarity among online companies--almost immediately made money. He charged 25[cents] to $2 for each listing and a commission of 1.25% to 5% on each sale...
...Omidyar has packed his board with branding-savvy executives from Hasbro, Intuit and Starbucks. But everyone finds working on the auction sites, well, different. Auction Universe chief executive officer Larry Schwartz recalls how someone tried to sell a live kidney for $250,000 before the company yanked the organ off-line. Suburban mom Kathy Barnett of Hoffman Estates, Ill., says she buys "garage-sale doodads" and quickly resells them on eBay: "I paid 10[cents] for a 1930s cookbook and auctioned it for $10." Ray Geeck of Lake Panasoffkee, Fla., began casually hawking dolls from his home and claims...