Who Is Pierre Omidyar, the Man Behind Glenn Greenwald's New Media Venture?

A few hours after the news broke that journalist Glenn Greenwald would leave The Guardian to launch his own media venture, Reuters reported Pierre Omidyar, a philanthropic billionaire who cofounded eBay, would fund Greenwald's new project.

While Greenwald's reporting on top-secret NSA surveillance programs has earned him bylines with news outlets all over the world, Omidyar is relatively unknown.

Hawaii-based Omidyar, 46, became a billionaire in 1998 when eBay went public. His net worth, according to Forbes, is more than $8 billion, and he still owns 9.3% of the company. After cashing in, he founded the Omidyar Network in 2004, a philanthropic investment firm Read more...