eBay chairman and founder
2004-08 Giving* $504 million
Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam, Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm that works to create and foster opportunity for people around the world. They say the goal of their work is to make a social impact, starting with the individual. The Omidyar Network invests in areas such as microfinance, social media, and government transparency. In 2006 the couple gave $100 million to Tufts University to establish a fund that will attract private capital and scale up the microfinance sector, resulting in an estimated $1 billion in microloans over the next decade. In 2007 the Network named Matthew J. Bannick, who had previously run eBay's global philanthropy, managing partner. Bannick continues to build the organization, with recent investments including Seesmic, Unitus Equity Fund II, and Endeavor. Earlier this year, Humanity United, an initiative started by Pam Omidyar in 2005 focused on eradicating mass atrocities and modern-day slavery, became an independent grantmaking organization.
*Based on public records and interviews with donors
Data: BusinessWeek, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University