Pierre Omidyar and Jeffrey Skoll

An auction site…, a friendship good and bright. 

Year:  1995

Company: eBay

Partnership: Skoll and Omidyar were casual friends when Omidyar built the code for eBay. Skoll was the first employee on the payroll  for eBay and was hired to write Omidyar's business plan.  As eBay began to take off, so did their business relationship and friendship.  The pair led the auction site to an IPO just 3 years later.

How it worked: Skoll and Omidyar shared democratic values which strengthened their business and their partnership. According to the LA Times, "They didn't talk about customers; they talked about 'the community.” This duo believed in being loyal to the customers and the community and this has helped the pair to become billionaires.