Craig Newmark
Craig Newmark
Claim to Fame: The Craig in CraigsList
Net Worth: >$10 Million
What He’s Doing: CraigConnects.com
Newmark’s most famous venture, Craigslist, is a function-over-form skeleton of a site that not only changed the way we sell things, but also spelled the death of countless newspapers across the country by transposing their then-profitable classifieds to the Web for free. In doing so he connected all sorts of everyday people – property managers, job seekers and missed connections – by giving them an outlet and leaving it up to them to exchange goods as they saw fit.
But he touts his newest departure, Craig Connects, as “the biggest thing in my life.” Started earlier this week, the goal of his new portal is to link the social efforts of individuals with nonprofits and public service organizations “for the common good via the Internet.” You can read the rest of the mission statement here, and find a growing list of organizations (including KIVA and NPR) already in the fold here.
Next: Jeff Bezos
Related Topics: Bill Gates,
Charity,
Craig Connects,
Craig Newmark,
Forbes billionaires,
I wish I was rich,
Jeff Bezos,
Mark Zuckerberg,
philanthropy,
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Lists,
Reviews & Features Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos
Claim to Fame: Amazon.com
Net Worth: $12.6 billion
What He’s Done: Amazon & Our Planet, among other things
The brilliant, ultra-geeky founder of Amazon is a bit of a conundrum: On one hand, it’s his intuitive sense of thrift and cost-cutting that’s made Amazon the go-to outlet for rock bottom prices on a myriad of goods. But it’s that same sense that’s also left his company open to criticism, as Slate once penned, “There are lemonade stands that donate more to charity.”
But the Seattle-based retailer has made recent strides to help improve its stingy image by doing what it does best: cutting out excess.
The most evident eco-friendly PR comes in the form of Amazon & Our Planet, which stages its practices around reducing its environmental impact by cutting waste. A failed tote-bag initiative comes to mind, but a whole list of best-practices can be found here.
As for Bezo’s himself, he’s personally donated $10 million to immunotherapy research to help combat breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, and in a more quirky display of giving, once played tennis with Anna Kournakova in Grand Central Terminal to raise money for underprivileged kids in Harlem.
Next: Mark Zuckerberg
Related Topics: Bill Gates,
Charity,
Craig Connects,
Craig Newmark,
Forbes billionaires,
I wish I was rich,
Jeff Bezos,
Mark Zuckerberg,
philanthropy,
steve jobs,
Gaming & Culture,
Lists,
Reviews & Features
