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  Context 

 It’s hard to believe that one of the most celebrated  dot‑ 

 coms has now been established nearly 20 years. Pierre 

Omidyar, a 28‑ year‑  old  French‑  born software engi‑

neer living in California, coded the site while working 

for another company, eventually launching the site for 

business on Monday, 4 September 1995 with the more 

direct name ‘Auction Web’. Legend reports that the site 

attracted no visitors in its first 24 hours. The site became 

eBay in 1997. By 2012, eBay had 112 million active 

users globally, defined as users who have bid, bought 

or listed an item during the preceding 12‑month period, 

with the total worth of goods sold on eBay $60 billion, 

which is equivalent to $2,000 every second. Total rev‑

enue was $8.7 billion.