Who Owns eBay?

eBay has no owner. eBay Inc. is listed on NASDAQ with no controlling shareholder, no parent company and a single class of stock, so votes track shares exactly. Its founder Pierre Omidyar has sold down over the years and does not control it. Companies House records eBay Inc. of Delaware as the controller of the UK company. PayPal is no longer part of eBay — it was spun off in 2015. Ownership verified 6 September 2026.

Who owns the eBay brand?

eBay Inc. is a public company registered in Delaware. Ownership sits with its shareholders and changes daily, and no single holder is near control.

The UK company is EBAY (UK) LIMITED (03726028), incorporated 3 March 1999 and registered at 1 More London Place. Its person with significant control is eBay Inc. (Delaware, number 2871352), holding 75% or more of shares and voting rights since 6 April 2016.

Searching the register for “eBay” returns a crowd of unconnected businesses — eBay Construction Services, Smart eBay Deals UK, eBay Direct — set up by people who trade on the platform. Only the companies at the More London address are the company’s own.

Parent company and ultimate owner

There is nothing above eBay Inc. It is the ultimate parent, and its subsidiaries — eBay (UK) Limited, eBay Commerce UK Ltd and the rest — sit beneath it.

eBay has a single class of common stock. There is no founder class and no super-voting structure, which distinguishes it from Meta, Alphabet, Spotify and Porsche elsewhere on this site. Anyone holding eBay shares holds a proportionate vote.

The largest shareholders are the index managers — Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street — each with a mid-to-high single-digit percentage held inside funds on behalf of those funds’ investors rather than on their own account.

Brand owner vs operating company

eBay Inc. owns the marketplace, the brand and the technology. The UK companies employ staff and run local operations.

An important distinction for a marketplace: eBay does not own the goods sold on it, and in the main it does not sell anything itself. Sellers own their stock and contract with buyers directly, with eBay providing the platform and taking fees. That is why “who owns eBay” and “who owns what is sold on eBay” are entirely different questions.

When the ownership changed

eBay was founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar and floated in 1998. It has never been acquired and has had no change of control. Omidyar’s holding has been reduced substantially over the years, much of it directed into the Omidyar Network and other philanthropic vehicles; he is no longer a controlling shareholder.

Its ownership story is one of buying and then letting go:

• PayPal — bought in 2002, spun off as a separate listed company in July 2015. eBay and PayPal have had no ownership relationship for over a decade, despite the association persisting.
• Skype — bought in 2005 and sold in 2009 to an investor group, before Microsoft acquired it. eBay owned Skype for about four years.
• StubHub — sold in 2020 to Viagogo.
• Classifieds — the eBay classified-ads business was sold to Adevinta in 2021, with eBay taking a stake in the buyer that it later sold down.

More recent purchases include TCGplayer and Goldin in 2022, both in collectables.

Related brands in the same group

eBay owns the eBay marketplaces worldwide, TCGplayer and Goldin.

It does not own PayPal, StubHub, Skype, Gumtree or Vinted — the first four it once did and sold, and Vinted it has never had any connection to. Nor is it connected to Amazon or Etsy, which are separate listed companies. eBay is one of the more commonly misattributed owners on this site precisely because it used to own so much that it no longer does.

Sources and verification

The UK company number, incorporation date and the eBay Inc. PSC entry with its Delaware registration number are from the Companies House register.

eBay’s own shareholders are disclosed through US securities filings — the annual proxy statement and Schedule 13G filings for institutions crossing 5% — rather than at Companies House, and every percentage is a snapshot from a filing date. The acquisition and disposal history comes from company announcements. Companies House does not verify most filed information.