SFist passes the craigslist corporate headquarters every day on our way out of the Sunset and into the rest of the world. Behind an unassuming storefront on 9th Ave between Irving and Judah churns a world of missed connections, fabulous new careers, and other people's junk.

SFist has found roommates, cars, freaky stalkers, and our present apartment on craigslist, so we're more than a bit emotionally invested in their future. That's why we were so surprised to see this press release, which states that eBay has purchased 25% of one of our favorite internet communities.

Craig Newmark, founder of craiglist, has posted a response on his blog. Apparently, Craig gave equity to a former colleague at craigslist, who later left the company and chose to sell his shares.

We like Craig, basing our assessment of his character from a brief conversation with him at a cocktail party a few years ago, as well as the tone he uses on both craigslist and his blog. We want him to do well. That's why we're doing our best to keep an open mind about the idea of our (and much of the country's) forum being in part purchased by a public company

Will this be another sucess story on the lines of "you put your chocolate in my peanut butter", or an astounding disappointment? We will keep our fingers crossed, as we continue to search for postings that might be about us.