Craig Newmark
| Craig Newmark | |
|---|---|
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| Born | December 6, 1952 Morristown, New Jersey, United States |
| Residence | San Francisco |
| Ethnicity | Jewish |
| Alma mater | Case Western Reserve University |
| Occupation | computer programmer |
| Known for | founder of Craigslist |
| Net worth |  US$ 400 million (2010)[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Eileen Whelpley (m. 2012) |
Craig Alexander Newmark (born 6 December 1952) is an American Internet entrepreneur best known for being the founder of the San Francisco-based international website Craigslist.
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Early life [edit]
Newmark was born to a Jewish family[2] in Morristown, New Jersey the son of Joyce and Lee Newmark.[3] He attended Jewish religious school[2] and had a bar mitzvah.[3] His father, an insurance salesman, died when he was thirteen and his mother struggled financially,[2] moving Craig and his brother Jeff into an apartment.[3] In 1971, he graduated from Morristown High School[3] and thanks to scholarships,[2] attended college at Case Western Reserve University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1975 and a Master of Science degree in 1977.[4]
Career [edit]
After college, Newmark worked at IBM for 17 years as a programmer moving from New Jersey to Boca Raton, Florida and then Detroit. In 1993, he moved to San Francisco to work for Charles Schwab where he was introduced to the internet which was commercial-free at the time.[3] He developed Craigslist as a free marketplace where people could come together - without charge - and exchange information. It has been described as an "internet commune."[3]
Newmark remains active at Craigslist in customer service, mostly dealing with spammers and scammers.[5] He also operates Craigconnects which is a site that publicizes charitable organizations to the media in an effort to gain assistance for that organization.[6]
Philanthropy and political donations [edit]
Newmark has donated to the presidential campaign of Democratic Senator John Kerry.[3] He also supports Barack Obama.[7]
Newmark is a vocal advocate for the cause of keeping the Internet free. In 2006 he donated $10,000 to a non-profit group, NewAssignment.Net, which plans to combine the work of amateurs and professionals to produce investigative stories on the Internet.[8]
Personal life [edit]
Newmark resides in San Francisco's Cole Valley. He describes him self as a non-practicing, secular Jew[2] joking that his rabbi is the singer Leonard Cohen.[2]
Forbes featured Newmark in its "Billionaires In The Making" list in 2010 and estimated his net worth at $400 million.[1]
Newmark married Eileen Whelpley in December 2012.[9]
Affiliations [edit]
- Member of the Wikimedia Foundation advisory board (2009)[10]
- Member of the New America Foundation Leadership Council[11]
- Member of Electronic Frontier Foundation advisory board
- Serves on the board of directors of the Sunlight Foundation
- Serves on the board of directors of the Center for Public Integrity[12]
- Honorary patron of the University Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin along with Matt Mullenweg (2009)
- Inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society[13] (2012)
- A board member for the Center for Public Integrity
- A board member for the Consumers Union[14]
- A board member for the Sunlight Foundation[14]
- A board member for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America[14]
- An advisor for DonorsChoose[14]
- An advisor for Voto Latino[14]
- An advisor for City College of San Francisco – Veterans Educational Transition Services Lounge
- An advisor for SF Veterans Resource Center
- An advisor for FactChecked.org
- An advisor for Politifact.com
- An advisor for Partners For A New Beginning
- An advisory board member for One Voice[14]
- An advisor for Electronic Frontier Foundation[14]
- An advisor for EPIC.org
- An advisor for Tech Policy Summit[14]
- An advisor for Rock The Vote
- An advisor for Charity Navigator[14]
- An advisor for Kiva[14]
- An advisor for Great Nonprofits[14]
- An advisor for Center for Investigative Reporting
- An advisor for Points of Light Institute
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Billionaires In The Making - Craig Newark". Forbes.
- ^ a b c d e f Something Jewish: "Craig Newmark interview" by Leslie Bunder December 11, 2005
- ^ a b c d e f g Morristown Daily Record: "Web guru hails from Morristown" June 26, 2004
- ^ "Case Western Reserve University selects honorary doctorates awardees". Case Western Reserve University. March 25, 2008
- ^ "The Josh Kornbluth Show: Craig Newmark" (SWF). KQED-TV / Google. October 17, 2005. pp. 27 minute runtime. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
- ^ Mitroff, Sarah (July 16, 2012). "Craig Newmark Sits at the Top and Bottom of Craigslist". Wired. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
- ^ "Craig Newmark, Tech Genius, Is an Obama Man". Reagan, Gillian. October 29, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
- ^ Usborne, Ryan (November 23, 2005). "Entrepreneur taps mistrust of media for new venture". The Independent. Retrieved 2006-02-08.
- ^ http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/garchik/article/Drowned-in-a-tsunami-of-Frappuccinos-4150067.php
- ^ "Advisory Board". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
- ^ Leadership Council. New America Foundation.
- ^ "Board of Directors". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
- ^ 2012 Inductees, Internet Hall of Fame website. Last accessed April 24, 2012
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Organizations". Craigconnects. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
Further reading [edit]
- Fryxell, Benjamin (April 18, 2010). "Interview with Craig Newmark". MacMania Networks, LLC. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
- Usborne, Ryan (November 23, 2005). "Entrepreneur taps mistrust of media for new venture". The Independent. Retrieved 2006-02-08.
- Tingle, Greg (November 24, 2003). "Interview with Craig Newmark". Media Man. Retrieved 2006-02-08.
- "Web guru hails from Morristown". Daily Record (Morristown). June 26, 2004. Retrieved 2004-04-29.[dead link]
External links [edit]
- craigblog, Craig Newmark's personal blog
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Craig Newmark on Charlie Rose
- Index of Craig Newmark’s writings on uFollow
