eBay 2007 Annual Report Download - page 11

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PART I
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements that involve
expectations, plans or intentions (such as those relating to future business or financial results, new features or
services, or management strategies). You can identify these forward-looking statements by words such as “may,”
“will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan” and other similar
expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties
include, among others, those discussed in “Item 1A: Risk Factors,” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as
our consolidated financial statements, related notes, and the other financial information appearing elsewhere in
this report and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. We do not intend, and
undertake no obligation, to update any of our forward-looking statements after the date of this report to reflect
actual results or future events or circumstances. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
ITEM 1: BUSINESS
Overview
eBay Inc. was formed as a sole proprietorship in September 1995 and was incorporated in California in May
1996. In April 1998, we reincorporated in Delaware, and in September 1998, we completed the initial public
offering of our common stock. Our principal executive offices are located at 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose,
California 95125, and our telephone number is (408) 376-7400. When we refer to “we,” “our” or “eBay” in this
Annual Report on Form 10-K, we mean the current Delaware corporation (eBay Inc.) and its California predecessor,
as well as all of our consolidated subsidiaries. When we refer to “eBay.com,” we mean the online marketplace
located at www.ebay.com and its localized counterparts. When we refer to “PayPal,” we mean the online payments
platform located at www.paypal.com and its localized counterparts. When we refer to “Skype,” we mean the Voice
over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, offerings provided by our subsidiary Skype Technologies S.A.
Our purpose is to pioneer new communities around the world built on commerce, sustained by trust and
inspired by opportunity. We provide online marketplaces for the sale of goods and services as well as other online
commerce, or ecommerce, platforms, online payments services and online communications offerings to a diverse
community of individuals and businesses.
We have three operating segments: Marketplaces, Payments and Communications. Our Marketplaces segment
enables online commerce through a variety of platforms, including the traditional eBay.com platform and our other
online platforms, such as our classifieds websites, as well as Half.com, Rent.com, Shopping.com and StubHub. The
wide array of websites that comprise our Marketplaces segment brings together millions of buyers and sellers every
day on a local, national and international basis. Our Payments segment, which consists of PayPal, enables
individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive payments online. Our Communications
segment, which consists of Skype, enables VoIP communications between Skype users and provides low-cost
connectivity to traditional fixed-line and mobile telephones.
Marketplaces
Our Marketplaces segment is comprised of online commerce platforms that enable a global community of
buyers and sellers to interact and trade with one another. Our goal is to create, maintain and expand the functionality,
safety, ease-of-use and reliability of our online commerce platforms while supporting the growth and success of our
community of users.
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