The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars. He fears for an America where generosity is trolled

1299 points by theindependentonline 10 days ago on reddit | 12 comments

[OP] theindependentonline | 10 days ago

In an extensive interview, The Independent sat down with Craig Newmark, multimillionaire founder of Craigslist.

Newmark never thought he'd become rich as he pins his wealth to "being in the right place at the right time." He then opens up about his philanthropy and his choice to give away much of his money to causes close to his heart. A financial and moral decision that faces the wealthy and has become a point of contention.

“That’s too much money for anyone to have, so I’m giving most of it away to people and causes that need it. It makes no sense to me that others with this kind of money would criticize anyone doing this," Newmark says.

horseradishstalker | 10 days ago

It’s probably pretty common to criticize someone’s actions when the criticizer believes those actions make them look bad - especially when they do. Do-gooder derogation is a thing.  https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20211122-why-overly-kind-and-moral-people-can-rub-you-up-the-wrong-way

QuilledPorcupine | 10 days ago

Good people either give away most of their money when they become rich, or they behave morally, thereby preventing them from becoming rich in the first place.

overitallofittoo | 9 days ago

Exactly this!

lateformyfuneral | 9 days ago

I’m shocked he made that much from Craigslist

omgfakeusername | 9 days ago

Wow! Need more of this in the world! And he's still well-off with more money than he can spend; he's not hurting.

Affectionate-CAT7206 | 9 days ago

I could use a couple billion bucks fr. I've got a huge family & it seems to be growing rapidly

Santi696969 | 9 days ago

I’ll take some of that money

lowrads | 10 days ago

He killed the newspaper industry, but if it wasn't his group, it would have just been someone else.

curien | 10 days ago

This is the second article in a week posted to this sub from The Independent that has talked about the Craigslist guy's philanthropy. Smells like a PR campaign.

jetsetter | 9 days ago

What’s not as obvious is how Craigslist adherence to its basic features resulted in untold numbers of scam victims. It allowed bad landlords, (and tenants) to carry on with no repercussions.

Craigslist squandered an opportunity to be a low profit leader of p2p, instead yielding it to Facebook and a variety of venture backed products.