Byrne, Patrick
Overstock.com, Inc.
Patrick Byrne is the chairman and CEO of Overstock.com, Inc., a Utah-based Internet retailer that has been publicly traded since 2002. Under Patrick’s leadership, the company’s annual revenue has gone from $1.8 million in 1999 to $800 million in 2008. In 2001, Patrick began Worldstock.com, Overstock.com’s socially responsible store for products handcrafted by artisans in developing nations and the rural U.S. More than $30 million has been returned to Worldstock’s artisan suppliers.
Patrick earned a BA in philosophy and Asian studies from Dartmouth, an MA in philosophy from Cambridge as a Marshall Scholar, and a PhD in philosophy from Stanford. Patrick is co-chair of the Milton & Rose Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. He has founded 19 schools internationally, educating over 6,000 students.
After surviving cancer, Patrick cycled across the country four times. His last ride, in 2000, helped raise record-breaking funds for cancer research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Byrne is a fifth-generation Irish American with roots in Cork and Wexford.
Return to Business 100
