Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2013. This is news from that month, and the size and activities of Emerson Collective have changed considerably since.
One of the biggest criticisms made of Steve Jobs during his lifetime was that he had no philanthropic streak, unlike his rival Bill Gates, who pledged to give away much of his fortune.
Jobs was never known as an activist, but it has now come to light, according to the New York Times, that Steve Jobs’s family has been donating money for more than 20 years, although they did so anonymously.
The thing is, they have done it through Emerson Collective, a small company set up as an LLC, rather than choosing the legal form used by foundations and charities, which are tax-exempt. This means Emerson Collective can make donations without any obligation or need to make its donations or investments public.
When Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs’s widow, was asked why they had never said anything despite the criticism, she replied that she doesn’t see the need to put a name and a face to a charitable donation. Doing things anonymously, and being agile, flexible and responsive, is what they value most in their team, she explained.
Let’s remember that Steve Jobs always said he didn’t have a guilty conscience like other millionaires, referring to Bill Gates, because Jobs always maintained that Windows was a copy of the idea behind Apple’s Mac.
Over these 20 years, Steve Jobs had been helping young people without resources to go to university. And although the amounts of the donations have not been revealed, College Track, a non-profit education centre for disadvantaged communities, says that Jobs’s widow is one of its main financial backers, as well as chair of its board.
Gestures like this do Steve Jobs credit. He was a giant in technology, but it seems he was even greater in silence, and he undoubtedly was, and will remain, an inspiration to any entrepreneur.
Further reading
- The dark side of Steve Jobs: the CEO inside the genius
- The best advice ever given to university students
- 5 things successful people do
Featured image: UNclimatechange, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
