Craig Newmark

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Craig Alexander Newmark (born December 6, 1952) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist. Before founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for IBM, Bank of America, and Charles Schwab. Newmark served as chief executive officer of Craigslist from its founding until 2000. He founded Craig Newmark Philanthropies in 2014.

Early life and education

Newmark was born to Joyce and Lee Newmark, a bookkeeper and insurance and meat salesman, who were Jewish, in 1952 in Morristown, New Jersey.<ref name="Harris Feb2006" /> As a child, Newmark liked science fiction and comic books, and wanted to become a paleontologist.<ref name="Dolcourt July2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> When Newmark was thirteen, his father died from cancer. His mother then moved him and his younger brother, Jeff, to Jacob Ford Village in Morristown.<ref name="Harris Feb2006" /><ref name="Coughlin July2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As a teenager, Newmark attended Morristown High School, where he became interested in physics.<ref name="Coughlin July2015"/> He wore taped-together, black-rimmed glasses and a pocket protector.<ref name="LATimes June2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In an interview, he described his high school self as "possible nerd patient zero".<ref name="BayCityNews June2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During high school, he sang in the school choir, joined the physics club,<ref name="Dolcourt July2019"/> co-captained the debate team and was in the honor society.<ref name="Coughlin July2015"/> Newmark graduated from high school in 1971.<ref name="Bangiolo September2008">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

During his freshman year of college, Newmark began studying computer science.<ref name="Dolcourt July2019"/> He earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in computing and information sciences from Case Western Reserve University<ref name="Forbes Profile">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in 1975 and 1977, respectively.<ref name="CaseWestern March2008">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

File:Craig Newmark by Pete Forsyth.jpg

Newmark in 2014

Before establishing Craigslist, Newmark worked as a contract computer programmer for companies such as Bank of America, Sun Microsystems, and others.<ref name="NJ.COM Sept2008">Template:Cite news</ref> His first job out of college was with IBM, where he worked for 17 years as a programmer and systems engineer. During that time, he lived in Boca Raton, Florida, Detroit, Michigan, and then Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<ref name="TheGuardian July2019">Template:Cite news</ref> He moved to San Francisco in 1993 after accepting a position with Charles Schwab.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There, a coworker introduced him to the World Wide Web—which at the time was still relatively free of commercials.<ref name="DailyRecord June2004">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1995, Newmark started emailing a list of upcoming events to a few friends to "cultivate a bit of community".<ref name="TheRinger June2017">Template:Cite news</ref> Other people asked to be included on the list and as members grew, so did the kinds of information on the list.<ref name="Harris Feb2006" /> Newmark launched craigslist.org in 1996, where people could exchange information, mostly without charge.<ref name="DailyRecord June2004"/> It started as a newsletter about San Francisco events.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He operated it as a hobby while continuing to work as a software engineer until 1999 when he incorporated Craigslist as a private for-profit company.<ref name="Gizmodo Sept2013">Template:Cite news</ref> In her book An Internet for the People: The Politics and Promise of craigslist, Jessa Lingel described the website as "the internet ungentrified".<ref name="PennToday Feb2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2000, Newmark stepped down as chief executive officer and handed off the role to Jim Buckmaster. Since then, Newmark has not been involved in the "day-to-day operations" of Craigslist.<ref name="Forbes Aug2018">Template:Cite news</ref> As of 2018, he continued to respond to Craigslist customer service inquiries, primarily dealing with spammers and scammers.<ref name="Forbes Aug2018" /><ref name="NJ.COM Sept2008"/>

In 2005, Time magazine listed Craig Newmark as one of the 100 people shaping the world.<ref name="Harris Feb2006" />

Newmark serves on the board of several non-profit organizations such as CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, Girls Who Code, and Vets in Tech, among others. He also holds roles on the advisory boards of 18 other non-profits.<ref name="Entrepreneur July2019">Template:Cite news</ref>

Philanthropy

As far back as 2004, Newmark was using his wealth to support philanthropic causes.<ref name="DailyRecord June2004b">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His philanthropic interests include journalism and cybersecurity.<ref name="MorristownGreen July2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2015, he founded Craig Newmark Philanthropies<ref name="CraigNewmark ForbesProfile">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which acts as an umbrella for his other foundations,<ref name="ChronicleofPhilanthropy Feb2021" /> such as his private charitable foundation, to which he contributed $50 million in 2016 to support military families, voter registration efforts, and women in technology.<ref name="Forbes Aug2018"/>

In 2018, Newmark's donations totaled $143 million.<ref name="SFGate Feb2019">Template:Cite news</ref>

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Newmark 17th out of 50 in its 2020 ranking of individual donors, giving a total of $100 million.<ref name="ChronicleofPhilanthropy 9Feb2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2022, Newmark donated $81 million through the Craig Newmark Foundation and Craig Newmark Philanthropic Fund again ranking in Chronicle of Philanthropy's top 50.<ref name="Focuses">Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2022, he announced his intention to give almost all of his money to charity.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Veterans

While consulting for the VA Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning Newmark dubbed himself "Nerd-in-Residence” while focusing his computer science skills on the Blue Button initiative, which is designed to make electronic health records, including family history, available to all veterans thereby accelerating the processing of claims, improving patient care, and saving lives.<ref name="GovExec Feb2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2022, Craig Newmark Philanthropies announced a $2.95 million grant to The Bob Woodruff Foundation's Got Your 6 Network. As of 2022, Craig Newmark Philanthropies reported more than $28 million in contributions to military and veteran communities, including Military Veterans in Journalism.<ref name="Memorial">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2023, Newmark donated $1 million to Blue Star Families.<ref name="BlueStarFamiles">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2023, Craig Newmark Philanthropies donated $10 million to The Bob Woodruff Foundation's Got Your 6 Network at the 17th Annual Stand Up for Heroes fundraiser gala that will support comprehensive mental health services for veterans and their families.<ref name="BWF">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2023, Newmark pledged an additional $100 million to organizations focused on veterans and military families.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cybersecurity

In January 2017, TechCrunch reported that Newmark donated $500,000 to Wikipedia's attempt at "reducing harassment and vandalism on the site and improve the tools moderators use every day to keep the peace".<ref name="techcrunch.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2019, Newmark donated $6 million to Consumer Reports to fund a Digital Lab focused on consumer privacy rights and cybersecurity.<ref name="The Guardian Jul2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2021, Newmark supported the Institute for Security and Technology's anti-ransomware program;<ref name="CyberScoop 23June2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a six-month study on misinformation and disinformation by the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder;<ref name="Telegraph 24Mar2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the establishment of the Institute for Rebooting Social Media at Harvard University;<ref name="BBC 10Sept2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Reporters Without Borders Journalism Trust Initiative;<ref name="RFI 18May2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and provided funding to expand PBS NewsHour's coverage of underrepresented communities.<ref name="Adweek 18Mar2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2022, Newmark committed $50 million to the Cyber Civil Defense initiative.<ref name="Defend">Template:Cite news</ref> As of April 2022, approximately $30 million of this commitment had been awarded.<ref name="Pioneer">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2023, Craig Newmark Philanthropies announced it would double its donations from $50 million to $100 million for fighting cyber threats.<ref name="Experts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other donations Newmark made include: $1 million to the Global Cyber Alliance, $150,000 to Women in CyberSecurity, and $250,000 to the Girl Scouts for cybersecurity programs.<ref name="Forbes Aug2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is also an avid supporter of Girls Who Code.<ref name ="Girlswhocode board">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="InsidePhilanthropy May2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Journalism

In 2006, The Guardian reported that Newmark was "readying his armoury of cash to invest in citizen journalism projects".<ref name="Harris Feb2006">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Between 2016 and 2020, Newmark donated $170 million to support journalism, combating harassment of journalists, cybersecurity, and election integrity, including $1 million each to ProPublica and the Poynter Institute in 2017.<ref name="Forbes Aug2018" />

In September 2018, he gave $20 million to fund the creation of The Markup, a non-profit news organization.<ref name="Forbes Aug2020"/>

That year, Newmark donated $1 million to Mother Jones to help the magazine combat fake news.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2021, Newmark donated $5 million to the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.<ref name="Pioneer"/>

Newmark established a $20 million endowment at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which was subsequently renamed the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.<ref name="Forbes Aug2018" />

According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Newmark's 2020 donations included $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League.<ref name="ChronicleofPhilanthropy Feb2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Newmark gave $5 million to the Poynter Institute, which used the funds to establish the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership. Newmark's previous donation of $1 million to the Poynter established the Craig Newmark Journalism Ethics Chair. He also gave $10 million to Columbia University to establish a center for journalism ethics and security, as well as a professorship.<ref name="TampaBayTimes Feb2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2021, Newmark supported the establishment of the Institute for Rebooting Social Media at Harvard University;<ref name="BBC 10Sept2021" /> the Reporters Without Borders Journalism Trust Initiative;<ref name="RFI 18May2021"/> and provided funding to expand PBS NewsHour's coverage of underrepresented communities.<ref name="Adweek 18Mar2021"/>

As of 2022, it was estimated that Newmark had given between $180 million and $200 million for journalism and fighting disinformation.<ref name="Pioneer"/>

In 2024, Craig Newmark Philanthropies announced a $10 million dollar launch gift to the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York with the aim of eventually making the school tuition-free for all of its students.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other journalistic causes Newmark has supported include: the Center for Public Integrity, the Center for Investigative Reporting, PolitiFact,<ref name="Poynter August 27, 2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Poynter Institute, Columbia Journalism Review,<ref name="InsidePhilanthropy May2017"/><ref name="MorristownGreen July2015"/> Columbia's Tow Center for Digital Journalism, The GroundTruth Project, the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and the Berkeley Center for New Media.<ref name="CNET Aug2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="TheRinger June2017"/>

Other philanthropic activities

In 2015, he donated $10,000 to Grow It Green Morristown for the installation of a composting toilet at the Early Street Community Garden. The facility was named "Craig Newmark Memorial Latrine #2". The first toilet Newmark sponsored was in the City of Jericho.<ref name="MorristownGreen July2015"/>

Bloomberg News reported that Newmark donated $10 million to charities focused on hunger issues in 2020, as well.<ref name="Bloomberg Oct2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

According to Newmark, as of May 2021 he'd given a total of $25 million to organizations working on food security.<ref name="WashingtonCityPaper 21May2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Newmark was among a group of prominent individuals who backed the Marshall Plan for Moms, which called on the Biden Administration to pass policies addressing paid family leave, training programs for women returning to work, and pay equity.<ref name="CNN 26Feb2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other examples of organizations and causes Newmark has supported include: OneVoice,<ref name="DailyRecord June2004b" /> Sunlight Foundation,<ref name="MorristownGreen July2015"/> Voto Latino,<ref name="SFChronicle Aug2019">Template:Cite news</ref> and the Wikimedia Foundation.<ref name="CNET Aug2018"/>

He has given $100,000 to support wildlife rescue groups.<ref name="Forbes Aug2020"/> Newmark has said that he is involved in pigeon rescue.<ref name="Focuses" />

Personal life

Newmark married Eileen Whelpley in December 2012,<ref name="Garchik12">Template:Cite news</ref> and they enjoy birding together.<ref name="TheRinger June2017" /> He currently lives in New York City,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="TheRinger June2017" /> flies commercial,<ref name="Times18">Template:Cite news</ref> does not own a car, and prefers using public transport.<ref name="Rudgard19">Template:Cite news</ref>

Newmark describes himself as a non-practicing, secular Jew, joking that his rabbi was the singer Leonard Cohen.<ref name="KCRW">Template:Cite news</ref> He is also a fan of Tori Amos, Lou Reed,<ref name="KCRW"/> and the TV shows Pushing Daisies and The Simpsons.<ref name="WaPo Oct2008">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

Newmark's net worth is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. In April 2020, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $1.3 billion but he has since dropped off its billionaires list.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In an interview published by Nieman Lab in 2017, he called a prior $400 million Forbes estimate of his net worth "bogus" and said that "by monetizing Craigslist the way I did in 1999, I probably gave away already 90 percent or more of my potential net worth."<ref name="Niemanlab 2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Newmark opposed the Iraq War and believed White House journalists “failed in their jobs” and did not "speak truth to power".<ref name="TheGuardian Feb2006">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2014, he was one of 60 Democratic Party donors who urged the creation of a system of public election funding.<ref name="UPI14">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2016, Newmark joined with the progressive RAD Campaign and Lincoln Park Strategies to commission a poll examining user perceptions about social media conflicts during the 2016 election.<ref name="Adweek

May2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Newmark supported Barack Obama's election campaign in 2008, volunteering for him on the campaign trail as an "official technology surrogate" and praising his use of technology to promote grassroots democracy.<ref name="Observer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the 2020 election, Newmark supported Joe Biden's campaign, citing his "commitment to fighting corruption" and "record of standing up for our veterans".<ref name="Tindera20">Template:Cite news</ref>

Further reading

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External links

• Craig Newmark Philanthropies
• craigblog, Craig Newmark's personal blog
• Template:C-SPAN
• Template:Charlie Rose view