Andre first fell in love with marketplaces in 1998 when he discovered eBay. After his beloved record collection was destroyed nine years earlier when a mortar shell destroyed his family’s Beirut apartment during the Lebanese Civil War, he was encouraged to rebuild his lost collection by the incredible opportunity eBay represented.

Leveraging the internet to connect people to buy and sell stuff struck him as pure genius. What may have been sitting lifeless in someone’s closet in one corner of the world could become another’s prized possession in another.

Inspired, he took a leap of faith and helped co-found an online marketplace site for France, then Europe and Latin America, iBazar. eBay acquired iBazar in 2001, and from 2001 until he left to join Turo as CEO in 2011, he helped grow eBay from $750 million in revenue to $11.7 billion.

Turo immediately clicked — not only was it a marketplace, but it was a marketplace for cars. A lifelong car enthusiast, he was able to combine two great passions. Soon after signing on as CEO, he listed his 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera S on the site — it was car #279 on the marketplace and is still available today, the longest-standing currently active car on Turo.

Andre joined the Kiva board in March 2020. Inspired by a conversation he had with Premal Shah, Kiva co-founder, while he was at eBay, he joined the Kiva community as a lender in Dec 2006. He recently celebrated hitting $12K in total amount lent, across 54 countries, landing him in the 99th percentile of Kiva lenders.

Andre has been a board member since May 2020 and stepped into the role of Board Chair in late 2024.

“Over the past 14 years as a lender on Kiva, I have witnessed the magic of a $25 loan empowering an entrepreneur to pursue their dreams and change their life and their community’s lives for the better. It has left me with a profound connection to Kiva’s mission and admiration for its impact. I am incredibly excited to support the Kiva team in the next phase of growth, scale and impact. I strongly believe that Kiva has only scratched the surface of the opportunity it is pursuing and I am thrilled to share my 20 years of experience in building, growing and scaling marketplaces and in designing delightful consumer web experiences.”