Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, and his wife, Pam, established Omidyar Network based on the belief that every person has the potential to make a difference. Since 2004, Omidyar Network has worked with its partners to create opportunities for people to tap that potential, enabling them to improve their lives and make powerful, lasting contributions to their communities.

Our Work

Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm that is committed to creating and fostering opportunity for people around the world. We make both grants and investments, identifying likeminded organizations that we support, scale, and champion to maximize their social impact.

We see philanthropy as more than a type of funding. In its truest sense, philanthropy is about improving the lives of others, independent of the mechanism. Therefore, we use a wide range of tools in our work, embracing market-based systems and open, web-enabled platforms as key means for making the world a better place.

Composed of a 501(c)(3) and a Limited Liability Company (LLC), we are uniquely structured to work across the social, business, and government sectors. Like a traditional foundation, we make grants through our 501(c)(3) entity. We post our Form 990-PFs: Return for a Private Foundation, to our Web site as they become available:

2006 990-PF
2005 990-PF
2004 990-PF

We invest in for-profit entities through our LLC. Inspired by the social impact of eBay, we believe that business can create extraordinary opportunity and value, and that market-based solutions can generate significant social returns. Sustainability, innovation, and scale are hallmarks of the private sector, and they are critical to addressing the global challenges we face today.

Please visit our Portfolio page to see how our partners are creating impact in areas such as microfinance, participatory media, philanthropic markets, and transparency in government.