The new profile of the Internet million
aire goes something like this: a 30
something who struck it rich in the
software or communications biz, cashed in
her options, retired and is now searching
for a way to do good in the world by
unloading some of that extra cash.
For the fabulously wealthy denizens of
the tech industry, philanthropy is the new
game. But these Internet tycoons are
updating the rules of charity set by big
wigs like Andrew Carnegie and John D.
Rockefeller, who built libraries, museums,
and civic buildings across the country.
In a mad dash to get rid of those
extra Diiuons, bill Uates and his
Seattle cohorts are funding uni
versity professorships, creating
educational organizations, helping
children, and, in the case of Cates
and wife Melinda, building and
outfitting libraries with the latest
in Microsoft technology.
Venture Philanthropy
These new philanthropists
are forging their own way. Instead
of simply writing a massive check
to the United Way or some other
established charitable organiza
tion, tech entrepreneurs have taken the
business skills that made them rich and
applied them to the giving game.
These groundbreaking millionaires and
billionaires have even coined their own term
for charitable work: venture philanthropy.
Donors like Gates and eBay founder
Pierre Omidyar are taking a new approach,
and they’re expecting returns. When these
cyber philanthropists give money to an
organization, they are targeting smaller
groups with a high potential for success,
much like a venture capitalist would search
out his next investment.
Pet Causes
While founding and bankrolling their
own organizations, this new breed of do
gooders has embraced the twin causes of
children and education. From endowed
chairs at universities, like the one funded
by Yahoo founder Jerry Yang at his alma
mater Stanford, to programs aimed at
minority school children with little access
to technology in Seattle, Internet million
aires are rolling up their sleeves and dis
covering that while handing out millions of
dollars may be easy, the challenge is to
put it in the right place.
The Big Winner:
Higher Education
Tech billionaires falling
over themselves in a mad
rush to give away their for
tunes include eBay’s
Omidyar. He and wife
Pamela recently told Forbes
These young ground
breaking million- and
billionaires have even
coined their own term
for charitable work:
philanthropy.
james oarKsaaie:
“To me this is like
an investment.”
Pierre Omidyar is
giving away all
but one percent
of his wealth.
Jerry Yang of Yahoo!
funded an endowed
chair at his alma
mater, Stanford.
magazine that they will give
away all but one percent of
their personal wealth—val
ued at about $6.6 billion—
by the year 2020. The
Omidyars have already
donated $10 million to their
alma mater, Tufts University,
but in true venture philan
thropy form, they stipulated that the
donation must be applied to specific pro
grams rather than just accumulate interest
in the school’s endowment fund.
The Omidyars urge to donate to their
alma mater was preceded by other huge
cash gifts to universities: David Duffield,
the founder of software company
PeopleSoft, recently gave Cornell
University $200 million for a new engi
neering facility. And Cordon Moore, the
man behind Intel, donated $15 million to
the University of California at Berkeley in
r
Credits: Barksdale (AP Photo/Richard Drew), Omidyar (AP Photo/Randi Lynn Beach), Yang (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
1996 and $16.8 million to the California
Institute of Technology prior to that.
Jim Barksdale, the former Netscape
CEO, and his wife Sally recently created a
$100 million endowment to advance liter
acy in their home state of Mississippi.
The couple didn’t just write a check,
they spent years researching literacy
rates and existing elementary school pro
grams, and have warned educators that if
reading scores in Mississippi don’t
improve, they’ll pull the financial plug.
"I invest in startup businesses, so to
me this is like an investment," Barksdale,
who is reportedly worth more than $700
million, recently told Time magazine.
The continuation of the venture phi
lanthropy trend means that America will
reap some tangible benefits from the
Internet era. While Bill Gates is building
libraries and his former employees are
saving the rainforest and bringing com
puters to underprivileged minorities, still
others may be donating an endowed pro
fessorship or a state-of-the-art science
facility to your school. •
For more on philanthropy, go to
Steamtunnels.net and search for “giving."
LINKS
The Bill and Melinda Cates Library
Foundation
Philanthropy News Network
Forbes’ list of America’s wealthiest
people.
womeft'PlttlanntrGpy.org
An organization devoted to developing
women as philanthropists. \
tlt@il6f.0fl! 1
United for a Fair Economy, an network
of socially responsible activists con
cerned about unfair distribution of
wealth.
Slafe60.asfi?f£ntry=2
$late magazine’s list of the top 60
donors in the U.S.