Wired 13.05: The Wired 40

They're masters of technology and innovation. They're global thinkers driven by strategic vision. They're nimbler than Martha Stewart's PR team. They're The Wired 40. 10. EBAY The Buyer's Seller's Market Last year: 5 Once the world's biggest yard sale, eBay has become the epitome of ecommerce: a global marketplace responsible last year for $34.2 billion worth of auctions and fixed-price sales. With no inventory costs, eBay generates net margins of 24 percent. Meanwhile, the company's PayPal division is becoming the standard for online payments. With 56 million active users, eBay has a big say in what gets sold online and how we pay for it. Challenge: Stop taking sellers for granted. After recent fee increases, 7,000 eBay stores closed. Opportunity: China. EBay must do better there than it did in Japan, where it got spanked by Yahoo! in 2001 and beat a retreat.