Craig Newmark pledges $100M to fight hacking by foreign governments
Craig Newmark plans to donate $100 million to further strengthen U.S. cybersecurity. The Craigslist founder tells The Wall Street Journal he is addressing what he sees as a growing threat from foreign governments. Half the funds will focus on protecting power grids and other infrastructure from cyberattacks; the other half will be earmarked to educate people about "cybersecurity hygiene."
Newmark, 71, has donated or pledged over $400 million since delving into philanthropy in 2015, with cybersecurity long at the top of his list of causes. (In 2023, he told Fortune that the threat to America from bad actors is now an “all-hands-on deck” situation.)
Newmark, who is also focused on a free and independent press — and, to a lesser extent, pigeon rescue — tells WSJ his giving is inspired by the Jewish principle of "tikkun olam"—repairing the world—which he learned from his Sunday school teachers. He separately told Fortune the plan is to give away all of his wealth in his lifetime.
