CRAIG NEWMARK

Craig Newmark spent 17 years at IBM as a programmer and systems analyst before accidentally building one of the internet's most durable companies. He started Craigslist in 1995 as a simple email list for friends in San Francisco — posting about local events, apartments, and jobs.

Within two years, demand forced him to build a proper website. By 2000, Craigslist was so large that Newmark hired Jim Buckmaster as CEO and stepped aside — an unusual move for any founder.

Today Craigslist runs in over 700 cities across 70 countries, generates hundreds of millions in annual revenue with a staff of around 50 people, and has never taken outside funding or gone public. Newmark shifted focus to philanthropy around 2015, creating Craig Newmark Philanthropies.

His $50 million gift to CUNY in 2018 created the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism — the largest single donation to a journalism school in U.S. history at the time.

He also donated $25 million to Boston University's cybersecurity program.

Craigslist (founder, 1995 — one of the internet's most enduring classified ad platforms, still private and profitable after 30 years). Craig Newmark Philanthropies (founder, 2015 — focuses on journalism, cybersecurity, and veterans causes).

Previously: IBM (17 years as a programmer and systems analyst in the 1970s and 80s).

Newmark is not a traditional investor. He doesn't run a fund or make portfolio bets on startups.

He writes large checks to mission-driven organizations — journalism schools, veterans nonprofits, cybersecurity programs. His giving is concentrated and intentional: he backs institutions he believes are critically underfunded relative to their civic importance.

He has made smaller angel investments in media and news companies, but his real investing is philanthropic.

Craigslist. Building a product so simple and useful that it became the dominant classified ad platform in the U.S.

without ever spending on marketing, raising outside funding, or going public. The site runs on roughly 50 employees and generates hundreds of millions per year.

Not selling when offers were almost certainly on the table turned out to be the right long-term call.

Failing to evolve Craigslist as vertical competitors carved up its best categories. Zillow took real estate.

LinkedIn took professional job postings. Indeed took jobs broadly.

Airbnb took short-term rentals. Tinder and Match took personal ads.

Each of those was once a Craigslist category. The platform still has traffic, but it's a fraction of what it could have commanded with any real competitive response.

Money is a tool for fixing what markets won't fix. Craigslist proved that a simple, low-cost platform could generate enormous wealth without external funding.

Newmark's philosophy: once you have enough, the interesting question becomes how to spend it. He believes journalism, veterans support, and cybersecurity are all underfunded public goods — and that wealthy individuals have a responsibility to fill the gaps that markets leave behind.

Born December 6, 1952, in Morristown, New Jersey. Never married.

Keeps personal life extremely private. Known for a small social circle and minimal public presence outside philanthropy announcements.

Case Western Reserve University — BS, Computer Science (1975). No MBA.

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