So Now You Know

eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995. Though now a billionaire, Pierre started AuctionWeb (as it was then known) as a simple "side hobby." In late '95, Pierre made history when he sold eBay's first item -- a broken laser pointer he had originally bought as a cat toy. Amazingly, the buyer paid $14.00 for the kaput pointer. We imagine it was about this time Pierre realized he was on the cusp of creating something great.