
eBay
eBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. A majority of the sales take place through a set-time auction format, but subsequent methods include a substantial segment of listings in the "Buy It Now" category. In addition to its original U.S. website, eBay has established localized websites in thirty other countries. eBay Inc. also owns PayPal, Skype (to be sold soon),StubHub, Kijiji, and other businesses. The online auction website was founded as AuctionWeb in San Jose, California, on September 3, 1995, by French-born Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as part of a larger personal site that included, among other things, Omidyar's own tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Ebola virus.In 1997, the company received approximately $5 million in funding from the venture capital firm Benchmark Capital. The very first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. Astonished, Omidyar contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood that the laser pointer was broken. In his responding email, the buyer explained: "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers." The frequently repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade Pez Candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media. This was revealed in Adam Cohen's 2002 book, The Perfect Store,and confirmed by eBay
Canon
Canon started out as a company with a handful of employees and a burning passion. That company soon became a world-renowned camera maker and is now a global multimedia corporation. However, the origins of our success remain unchanged: the passion of our early years and technological expertise amassed over more than 60 years. Canon will continue using its technologies to benefit people as it pursues its objective of becoming a company that is loved by people throughout the world.
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. As of 2009, its weekday circulation of 377,500 made it 11th-highest in the United States, and the highest for a suburban newspaper.[4] The newspaper headquarters is in Melville, New York, in Suffolk countHistory
Founded by Alicia Patterson, with backing from her husband, Harry Guggenheim, the paper was first published on September 3, 1940 from Hempstead. After Patterson's death in 1963, Guggenheim became publisher and editor, and in 1971, he sold the paper to the Times Mirror Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times. Newsday launched a separate Queens edition in 1977, followed by a New York City edition. In June 2000, Times Mirror merged with the Tribune Company, partnering Newsday with the New York City television station WPIX (Channel 11), also owned by Tribune. Chicago, Illinois, real estate magnate Samuel Zell purchased Tribune in 2007.[4] News Corporation, headed by CEO Rupert Murdoch, attempted to purchase Newsday for $580 million in April 2008.This was soon followed by a matching bid from New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman,and a $680 million bid from Cablevision.In May 2008, News Corporation withdrew its bid,and on May 12, 2008, Newsday reported that Cablevision would purchase the paper for $650 million.The sale was completed July 29, 2008.