Laurene Powell Jobs and Anonymous Giving in Silicon Valley

[onehandle]

In Silicon Valley, people get very rich, very fast, often when they are very young. As a result, they are often criticized for not giving away enough of that money.

There are signs that is changing, as people like Mark Zuckerberg become more philanthropic. But many in tech are still in their 20s, and say they are working long days running companies and trying to improve the world with their products, and will be able to focus on philanthropy later in life.

There is another story line, though, one brought to light by the tale of Laurene Powell Jobs. She is the widow of Steve Jobs, one of the tech titans who received the most criticism for a lack of philanthropy. Yet for more than two decades, his family has been giving away money — anonymously.

“We’re really careful about amplifying the great work of others in every way that we can, and we don’t like attaching our names to things,” Ms. Powell Jobs said in an interview for a profile that Peter Lattman and I wrote in The New York Times last week.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/laurene-powell-jobs-and-anonymous-giving-in-silicon-valley

[factsarenotfair]

1. Is this supposed to make me think it's great that Apple doesn't pay taxes?

Well, it doesn't.

[KamaAina]

2. How much of it actually goes into the community?

Suckerberg, for instance, lavishes million$$$ on privatized charter schools in Newark. Google's pet project is a fleet of drones to track down rhino poachers in Africa. Meanwhile, after a decade of budget cuts under Ahh-nuld and now Brown (D-Sort Of), California schools have sunk into the bottom tier in terms of spending per student.