INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE, 07 April 2017
Patrick M. Byrne is the Founder and former CEO of Overstock.com, that had revenues in 2016 of $1.8 billion and its sixth out of seven straight years of profitability. He holds a certificate from Beijing Normal University, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and Asian studies from Dartmouth College, a master’s in philosophy from Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar, and a doctorate in philosophy from Stanford University.
Byrne has served as a Teaching Fellow at Stanford University; Chairman, President and CEO of Centricut, LLC; and Chairman, President and CEO at Fechheimer Brothers, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company.
In 2001, Byrne began Worldstock Fair Trade, an Overstock.com division selling handcrafted products from artisans in developing nations. Worldstock profits have been donated to fund philanthropic projects, including building 26 self-sustaining schools across Asia and Africa educating thousands of students. Byrne also created the Main Street Revolution marketplace for small American entrepreneurs, a pet adoption service that has connected people with 75,000 pets in less than two years, and Farmers Market which now makes fresh, locally grown produce available to 45% of the U.S. population.
In 2010, Forbes named Overstock.com the No. 9 Best Company to Work for in the Country, and Byrne the CEO with the highest employee approval rating (92%). In 2011, Ernst & Young gave Byrne its National Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and in 2014, Overstock.com was named one of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America by Forbes/MSCI ESG Research.
