Mercado Libre
Argentine e-commerce company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MercadoLibre, Inc. (Spanish pronunciation: [meɾˈkaðo ˈliβɾe]), known as Mercado Livre in Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [meʁˈkadu ˈlivɾi]), literally meaning "free market" in both languages, is a company of Argentine origin headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay and incorporated in Delaware in the United States that operates online marketplaces dedicated to e-commerce and online auctions. As of 2016[update], Mercado Libre had 174.2 million users in Latin America,[3] making it the region's most popular e-commerce site by number of visitors.[4]
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 Former headquarters in Saavedra, Buenos Aires, July 2021 | |
Native name | Mercado Libre (Spanish) Mercado Livre (Portuguese) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| |
| Industry | E-commerce |
| Founded | August 2, 1999[1] in Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Founder | Marcos Galperin |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | |
Key people | Giancarlo Moreira(board of directors)}} |
| Brands |
|
| Services | Online marketplace and e-commerce payment system |
| Revenue |  US$28.9 billion (2025) |
| US$3.20 billion (2025) | |
| US$1.99 billion (2025) | |
| Total assets | US$42.7 billion (2025) |
| Total equity | US$6.75 billion (2025) |
Number of employees | 123,670 (2025) |
| Website | mercadolibre |
| Footnotes / references [2] | |
Aside from being the sole player in Argentina's e-commerce market,[5] it also has operations in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.[6] In 2023, Time included Mercado Libre in the list of the 100 most influential companies in the world.[7]
History
Mercado Libre was founded on August 2, 1999 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[8][6] Founder and CEO Marcos Galperin established the company while attending Stanford University. He acquired funding from John Muse, co-founder of HM Capital Partners.[9][10] Mercado Libre received additional funding from JPMorgan Partners, Flatiron Partners, Goldman Sachs, GE Capital, and Banco Santander Central Hispano. In 1999, Mercado Libre was chosen as an Endeavor company.[11]
In September 2001, online auction company eBay purchased a 19.5% stake in the company.[9] eBay sold its stake in Mercado Libre in 2016, but the companies continue to collaborate to expand eBay sellers into Latin America.[12][13] eBay opened its first branded store on the Mercado Libre marketplace from Chile in March 2017.[14] The following month, Mercado Libre acquired iBazar Como, the Brazilian subsidiary of eBay's earlier acquisition, iBazar S.A.[15] In 2006, MercadoLibre.com launched new operations in Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.[16]
In August 2007, Mercado Libre became the first Latin American technology company to be listed on the NASDAQ, under the ticker MELI.[6][9] Mercado Libre acquired competitor DeRemate's operations in August 2008.[17] Mercado Libre also acquired Classified Media Group (CMG) in 2008. CMG established the Latin American e-commerce portals tucarro.com and tuinmueble.com.[18]
In 2011, the company transitioned its platform to open source technology. The transition allowed application programming interface (API) developers to expand the platform's solutions and services.[19] In 2013, Mercado Libre launched the MeLi Commerce Fund, dedicated to investing in technology startups that create software using Mercado Libre's APIs.[20] By August 2016, the fund had invested US$1.5 million in 15 companies in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.[21][22] Mercado Libre acquired Portal Inmobiliario, a Chilean classified ad website, in 2014.[23] In 2015, Mercado Libre announced its acquisition of Metroscúbicos.com, the portal of Mexico-based real estate company Grupo Expansión.[24]
In 2016, Mercado Libre relocated its Brazilian headquarters to new offices in São Paulo, Brazil. The 17,000 square meter complex, named Melicidade, held a cafeteria, auditorium, gym, beauty parlor, meeting and training rooms, and a recreation area.[25][26] In March 2016, Mercado Libre announced its expansion into Córdoba, Argentina with its new software center.[27] However, the company will close the Córdoba offices in August, 2025, citing the high cost of municipal taxes, with all staff continuing their work remotely.[28] Mercado Libre opened its first Colombian office in Bogotá in October 2016. It was the company's fourth customer service center in Latin America,[8][29] following centers in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.[30]
On June 19, 2017, Mercado Libre became a NASDAQ-100 company.[31] In 2019, Mercado Libre opened its first distribution centers in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.[32] In March 2020, Mercado Libre announced its new distribution centers in Chile[33] and Colombia.[34] In June 2020, Mercado Libre announced its new software center in Colombia.[35] In March 2021, Mercado Libre announced an investment of $1.8 billion in its Brazilian operations.[36] In April 2025, Mercado Libre announced a US$2.6 billion investment in Argentina, representing a 53% increase from the previous year, as part of its regional expansion strategy across Latin America, with plans to hire 2,000 additional employees and expand its logistics network and technological capabilities.[37]
Operations
Mercado Libre operates under five main business units. MarketPlace is its platform for users to sell products, Mercado Pago is its payment platform for online sales,[5] Mercado Publicado is the advertising portion of Mercado Libre, Mercado Shops is a tool designed to enhance the platform's overall ecosystem,[38] and Mercado Crédito is the company's credit line.[39]
Mercado Libre's MarketPlace is a platform designed to match buyers and sellers. Customers bid for items or pay a set price for offered products. Items are delivered after payment, and users can provide feedback.[40] 3,000 official stores or brands work with Mercado Libre.[41] Mercado Libre also runs a real estate and motors division under the name Mercado Libre Classificados. Realtors pay a monthly fee to list properties and automobiles on the Mercado Libre platform.[42]
Mercado Libre launched MercadoPago, a secure payment system, to diversify payment options.[43] MercadoPago processed 138.7 million transactions in 2016, which was a 73% improvement from 2015.[41] Launched in 2012, MercadoShops was designed to allow small and medium-sized companies to open virtual stores on their existing websites. The stores feature integration with social network sites.[44] In October 2014, a mobile app was released for MercadoPago which used a credit card reader to allow charges to be processed using a tablet or smartphone using a QR code.[43][45] The company expanded MercadoPago into Colombia in July 2016.[46] Mercado Crédito's credit process works with buyers and sellers. Rate types for credit lines are determined through a borrower profile.[47]
Sponsorships
Mercado Libre is the title sponsor of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol, having signed a deal for the 2026-2027 season,[48] and sponsors all CONMEBOL club competitions until 2026.[49] Mercado Libre is the personal sponsor of Argentine Formula One driver Franco Colapinto, hence the company's logo appears on the Williams and Alpine cars he has driven.[50]
Corporate affairs
The key trends for Mercado Libre are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):[51][52][53]
| Revenue (USD billion) |
EBIT (USD billion) |
Total Assets (USD billion) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 0.65 | 0.15 | 1.00 |
| 2016 | 0.84 | 0.18 | 1.36 |
| 2017 | 1.29 | 0.05 | 1.67 |
| 2018 | 1.43 | (0.07) | 2.23 |
| 2019 | 2.29 | (0.11) | 4.78 |
| 2020 | 3.97 | 0.08 | 6.52 |
| 2021 | 7.06 | 0.24 | 10.10 |
| 2022 | 10.53 | 0.78 | 13.73 |
| 2023 | 14.95 | 1.55 | 17.61 |
| 2024 | 20.77 | 2.43 | 25.19 |
Controversies
Unauthorized access
On March 7, 2022, a cybercriminal group known as "Lapsus" gained access to the data of approximately 300,000 users. The multinational company acknowledged the incident and issued a statement saying that "no evidence was found that the infrastructure systems had been compromised or that user passwords, account balances, investments, financial information, or payment card details had been obtained."[54]
