She is one of the wealthiest women on the planet. Her wealth is estimated at 25 billion euros. Curiously, Laurene Powell Jobs does not care about money. She married Steve Jobs in 1991, but by then she was already a well-off figure. in the pecuniary and very relevant in the intellectual circuit.
Born in 1963 in West Milford, New Jersey, Powell earned degrees in economics and political science from the University of Pennsylvania and As soon as I finished my Master’s degree, I was already working on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs. He co-founded the food company Terravera, founded the College Track initiative, and traveled throughout North America giving talks and symposiums.
Laurene Powell Jobs’ humanitarian causes
And at one of these public talks, at a 1989 conference at Stanford, he sat next to a calm man he didn’t know. They engaged in conversation until he had to come on stage. It was Steve Jobs, guest speaker. It didn’t take long for them to fall in love and just two years later their first daughter was born.
And so, right up until Steve Jobs’ final days in 2011. His passing left Laurene to inherit the Steven P. Jobs Trust. This fund, at the time, owned nearly 40 million Apple shares and 7.3% of the Walt Disney Company, shares valued at $10 billion. And what do you do with so much money? She gave talks. This is where a new philanthropic project begins with an idea to make such a vast inheritance profitable.
When she inherited that fortune, Laurene had a clear idea: philanthropy. Invest, donate and help. “I’m not interested in building on the legacy of an inheritance.” As she had done with College Track, her goal was to continue her own story, without resorting to a single dollar from her late husband. “If I live long enough, that inheritance will end with me,” she would say in an interview where she estimates donate $3.5 billion over the next decade.
Of all the charitable projects she is involved in, the following stand out: Emerson Collective and the Waverley Street FoundationThe first is focused on a system of educational scholarships for groups at risk of exclusion. The second focuses on alleviating and minimizing the causes of climate change. disadvantaged groups, promoting the preservation of natural spaces and investing in education and research. In fact, Laurene is an active member of the Climate Leadership Council.
As he recalls in his interview for The New York Times“I inherited my wealth from my husband, who did not care to accumulate it. I do this in honor of his work And I have dedicated my life to doing everything I can to distribute it effectively, helping people and communities in a sustainable way.” One of the fifty richest women on the planet wants to stop being so for the right reasons.
Cover | Flickroriginally from UNclimatechange.
An older version of this article was originally published on 08/08/2023.