Cheers to Craig, and all the billionaires still signed on to The Giving Pledge.
I don't know a lot about the guy aside from his philanthropy and his refusal to sell out craigslist over the years but it's always good to hear about wealthy people that want to do something besides horde and build space penises.
The article has some interesting details about his un-lavish life (still takes public transportation) and ideals.
You know, there's probably a couple of stories out there about people who made it big off of a website or something and then… realized they have generational wealth now and decided it's enough. People like Craig here and MySpace Tom are probably living their best life instead of doing an extended Sephiroth impression like the average tech billionaire now.
I work in silicon valley. The nature of my work means I meet a lot of 'retirees' (often in their 40s) who made it to 20 or 30 million, decided that was enough, and checked out of the rat race.
Success to that level is a heck of a filter, and I do think that it's one of the reasons that the sociopathy scale goes up fast once you exceed roughly that amount of wealth. In other words, once you have the amount of money that you realistically need to live a comfortable life for both you and your children forever, there are only certain (in my opinion, pathological) personality traits that have a strong drive for Even More.
That'd be the dream. Make it so I never have to work a day again and then focus on what I'm really passionate about.
Admitedly, If it somehow scales a magnitude beyond that, I'd probably start lobbying for causes as well. I wonder if 9 figures is enough to start truly fighting for ranked choice voting?
I met him in 2000 or 2001 at an online community conference when he was a keynote speaker about Craigslist, which he was about to expand beyond San Francisco. He communicated the same values then -- let's help each other -- as he does in this piece.
It's nice to know that not everyone turns into a jerk.
...you know, the weirdest takeaway for me is that Craigslist was actually founded by a guy named Craig. I never even really thought about the fact it had to be founded by someone until now. I'm just so used to thinking of it as a single word I guess, and also companies just not using actual names and focusing on branding. (Even Angie's List is now Angi, since that's the other site/business I knew was named after a person.)
Really appreciate this article for highlighting how Craig is a genuinely normal guy who happens to have a ton of money, and succeeded while rejecting the worst parts of the business world. And I mirror his confusion at all the billionaires condemning The Giving Pledge. The only "agenda" to it is just "give money to causes you believe are good", which is purely subjective. maybe they just have a hard time finding charities that appeal to them because the general public won't support a charity like "Ban Healthcare for Poor People" or whatever causes they support
For just 2 pints of blood a day, millions of you can help make a (nearly invisible) difference in the life of just one man. Help us find a cure (for mortality), for a better world (for that man only)
Damn. What an absolute fuckin' g. Seems like a down to earth dude who realized having all of the money in the world really doesn't matter all that much. The world needs more Craig's.
I haven't been able to research who the woman in on his panel, but I really appreciate what she's saying about AI and big tech companies. It feels like no one else is saying how much they've simply swallowed up the means of getting information. They want to control who and what gets seen, while also being in the ear of politicians to prop up the oligarchy they've built.
I do wish Craig was able to speak more. I'm just now learning about his philanthropy, and would love to hear more about his thoughts.
[OP] post_below | a day ago
Cheers to Craig, and all the billionaires still signed on to The Giving Pledge.
I don't know a lot about the guy aside from his philanthropy and his refusal to sell out craigslist over the years but it's always good to hear about wealthy people that want to do something besides horde and build space penises.
The article has some interesting details about his un-lavish life (still takes public transportation) and ideals.
donn | a day ago
You know, there's probably a couple of stories out there about people who made it big off of a website or something and then… realized they have generational wealth now and decided it's enough. People like Craig here and MySpace Tom are probably living their best life instead of doing an extended Sephiroth impression like the average tech billionaire now.
Baeocystin | 19 hours ago
I work in silicon valley. The nature of my work means I meet a lot of 'retirees' (often in their 40s) who made it to 20 or 30 million, decided that was enough, and checked out of the rat race.
Success to that level is a heck of a filter, and I do think that it's one of the reasons that the sociopathy scale goes up fast once you exceed roughly that amount of wealth. In other words, once you have the amount of money that you realistically need to live a comfortable life for both you and your children forever, there are only certain (in my opinion, pathological) personality traits that have a strong drive for Even More.
raze2012 | a day ago
That'd be the dream. Make it so I never have to work a day again and then focus on what I'm really passionate about.
Admitedly, If it somehow scales a magnitude beyond that, I'd probably start lobbying for causes as well. I wonder if 9 figures is enough to start truly fighting for ranked choice voting?
teaearlgraycold | a day ago
People spot Craig in SF pretty often and he seems to be living a pretty normal life just chilling out here.
asteroid | a day ago
I met him in 2000 or 2001 at an online community conference when he was a keynote speaker about Craigslist, which he was about to expand beyond San Francisco. He communicated the same values then -- let's help each other -- as he does in this piece.
It's nice to know that not everyone turns into a jerk.
CannibalisticApple | a day ago
...you know, the weirdest takeaway for me is that Craigslist was actually founded by a guy named Craig. I never even really thought about the fact it had to be founded by someone until now. I'm just so used to thinking of it as a single word I guess, and also companies just not using actual names and focusing on branding. (Even Angie's List is now Angi, since that's the other site/business I knew was named after a person.)
Really appreciate this article for highlighting how Craig is a genuinely normal guy who happens to have a ton of money, and succeeded while rejecting the worst parts of the business world. And I mirror his confusion at all the billionaires condemning The Giving Pledge. The only "agenda" to it is just "give money to causes you believe are good", which is purely subjective.
maybe they just have a hard time finding charities that appeal to them because the general public won't support a charity like "Ban Healthcare for Poor People" or whatever causes they support[OP] post_below | a day ago
'The Farm Poor People for Longevity Blood Infusions for the Rich' Foundation just doesn't have mass appeal.
chocobean | a day ago
For just 2 pints of blood a day, millions of you can help make a (nearly invisible) difference in the life of just one man. Help us find a cure (for mortality), for a better world (for that man only)
Omnicrola | a day ago
For the Emperor!
(Warhammer 40k reference)
TheD00d | a day ago
Damn. What an absolute fuckin' g. Seems like a down to earth dude who realized having all of the money in the world really doesn't matter all that much. The world needs more Craig's.
kmcgurty1 | a day ago
The rest of Craig's panel linked in the article is here: https://youtu.be/QMXWblaeShI?t=5841
I haven't been able to research who the woman in on his panel, but I really appreciate what she's saying about AI and big tech companies. It feels like no one else is saying how much they've simply swallowed up the means of getting information. They want to control who and what gets seen, while also being in the ear of politicians to prop up the oligarchy they've built.
I do wish Craig was able to speak more. I'm just now learning about his philanthropy, and would love to hear more about his thoughts.
As a side note: I find it incredibly ironic whoever put this conference together decided to use AI generated content, in an intro about AI companies stealing content to train their models.
[OP] post_below | 23 hours ago
Thanks for the links, I don't have time to watch them now but I'm kinda curious what Craig is like live