Craig Alexander Newmark was born on December 6,1952 and is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist.
29 Facts About Craig Newmark
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Craig Newmark, the son of Joyce and Lee Craig Newmark, was born to a Jewish family in 1952 in Morristown, New Jersey.
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Craig Newmark's mother was a bookkeeper and his father was an insurance and meat salesman.
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Craig Newmark wore taped together, black-rimmed glasses and a pocket protector.
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Craig Newmark earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in computing and information sciences from Case Western Reserve University in 1975 and 1977, respectively.
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Craig Newmark moved to San Francisco in 1993 after accepting a position with Charles Schwab.
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In 1995, Craig Newmark started emailing a list of upcoming events to a few friends to "cultivate a bit of community".
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Craig Newmark 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.
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In 2000, Craig Newmark stepped down as chief executive officer and handed off the role to Jim Buckmaster.
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Since then, Newmark has not been involved in the "day-to-day operations" of Craigslist.
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Craig 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.
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Craig Newmark holds roles on the advisory boards of 18 other non-profits.
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In 2006, The Guardian reported that Craig Newmark was "readying his armoury of cash to invest in citizen journalism projects".
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Craig Newmark reportedly dubbed himself "Nerd-in-Residence" while consulting for the Center for Innovation of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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In recent years, Craig Newmark has directed his philanthropic efforts towards nonprofits working on journalism ethics and security, cybersecurity, and election integrity.
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In January 2017, TechCrunch reported that Craig 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".
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Between 2016 and 2020, Craig Newmark donated $170 million to support journalism, combating harassment of journalists, cybersecurity, and election integrity.
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That year, Craig Newmark donated $1 million to Mother Jones to help the magazine combat fake news.
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Bloomberg News reported that Craig Newmark donated $10 million to charities focused on hunger issues in 2020, as well.
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Craig Newmark gave $10 million to Columbia University to establish a center for journalism ethics and security, as well as a professorship.
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Craig Newmark supported the Institute for Security and Technology's anti-ransomware program; a six-month study on misinformation and disinformation by the Aspen Institute's Commission on Information Disorder; the establishment of the Institute for Rebooting Social Media at Harvard University; the Reporters Without Borders Journalism Trust Initiative; and provided funding to expand PBS NewsHour's coverage of underrepresented communities.
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Craig 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.
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Craig Newmark has given $100,000 to support wildlife rescue groups.
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The first toilet Craig Newmark sponsored was in the City of Jericho.
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Craig Newmark married Eileen Whelpley in December 2012, and they enjoy birding together.
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Craig Newmark describes himself as a non-practicing, secular Jew, joking that his rabbi was the late singer Leonard Cohen.
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Craig Newmark is a fan of Tori Amos, Lou Reed, and the TV shows Pushing Daisies and The Simpsons.
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In 2016, Craig 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.
29.
Craig Newmark supported former President Barack Obama, volunteered for him on the campaign trail as "official technology surrogate", and praised Obama's use of technology to promote grassroots democracy.