EToys.com

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The correct title of this article is eToys. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

eToys.com was a toy website that had early promise. Emarketer was once quoted as saying; "Put simply, eToys is the benchmark against which all other toy sites are measured." Like so many other so-called Dot-com companies, the eToys site filed for chapter 11 protection toward the end of the internet bubble on March 07, 2001.

Unlike many CEO's of the time, when eToys finally did expire CEO Toby Lenk went down with it still holding 10 million shares. Mr. Lenk also prevailed upon his senior team to follow his example, by not selling their shares, hoping to save eToys by signaling confidence to Wall Street.

Nearly all the eToys assets were acquired by KB Toys in two separate bankruptcy auctions, then later sold to D.E. Shaw, a New York based hedge fund. Just prior to its final sale, lawyers on behalf of eToys filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court against Goldman Sachs for multiple securities violations. The suit, still pending a decision, is estimated at being worth $600-800 million. Coupled with that rose a shareholders group who had been privately investigating suspected wrongdoings by certain individuals and law firms overseeing the bankruptcy case. This group, comprised of skilled investigators, securities experts and investors, relentlessly pursue financial justice in Federal Court to this day.

In 1999, the company was involved in high-profile dispute with Swiss art site etoy. EToys attempted to seize the etoy.com domain from etoy on the grounds that it was confusingly similar to its own domain, but it relented after widespread Internet outrage.^[1] That season's Christmas-season television ad campaign featured Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's rendition of "(Somewhere) Over the Rainbow". [1]

The eToys.com website was eventually reopened by eToys Direct Inc., a descendant of Internet startup and KB Toys partner Brainplay.com. It continues to market toys by mail order under the eToys name through both the website and printed catalogs.