Jeffrey Skoll

Jeffrey Stuart Skoll, OC (born January 16, 1965)[2] is a Canadian engineer, billionaire internet entrepreneur and film producer. He was the first employee and subsequently first president of eBay, eventually using the wealth this gave him to become a philanthropist, particularly through the Skoll Foundation, and his media company Participant Media. He founded an investment firm, Capricorn Investment Group, soon after and currently serves as its chairman. Born in Montreal, Quebec, he graduated from University of Toronto in 1987 and left Canada to attend Stanford University's business school in 1993.

Jeffrey Skoll
Skoll in 2013
Born
Jeffrey Stuart Skoll

(1965-01-16) January 16, 1965
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Stanford University
Occupation
  • President of eBay (1996–1998)
  • Founder and chairman of Participant Media
  • Founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation
Home townPalo Alto, California, U.S.
Net worthUS$5.3 billion (May 2020)[1]
Spouse(s)
Stephanie Swedlove
(
m. 2014)

Shortly after graduating from business school, he began his career at eBay where he wrote the business plan that the company followed from its emergence as a start-up to a larger company. While at the company he began the eBay Foundation which was allocated pre-IPO stock now worth $32 million. Once eBay's second largest stockholder, behind Omidyar, he subsequently cashed out a portion of his company holdings, yielding him around $2 billion.[3][4] With an estimated net worth of $US 4 billion (as of December 2016), Skoll was ranked by Forbes as the 7th wealthiest Canadian and 134th in the United States.[5]

Through his film production company, Participant Media–of which he is founder, owner, and chairman–he has produced numerous critically acclaimed films. His first films Syriana (2005), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), and North Country (2005), along with the documentary Murderball (2005), accounted for 11 Oscar nominations in 2006. His subsequent films have included An Inconvenient Truth (2006), Fast Food Nation (2006), The World According to Sesame Street (2006), Waiting for "Superman" (2010), Lincoln (2012), and his latest, Spotlight (2015) won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2016.[6]

Early life

Jeff Skoll was born to a Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[7][8][9] His mother was a teacher[3] and his father was a chemical company owner who sold industrial chemicals.[10] The family settled in Toronto in the late seventies. When Skoll was fourteen, his father was diagnosed with cancer which prompted him to discuss with his son how much he regretted not having had the time to do everything he had planned in life. His first job was pumping gas at a York Mills gas station.

He graduated with a BASc with honours in 1987 from the University of Toronto's electrical engineering program. While an undergraduate student, he co-edited the engineering students' satirical newspaper The Toike Oike. He paid his way through college by pumping gas in North York, Ontario. After graduating he backpacked around the world for several months before returning and founding two businesses in Toronto: Skoll Engineering, an information technology consulting firm and Micros on the Move Ltd., a computer rental firm. He left Canada in 1993 to earn a Master of Business Administration degree at Stanford Business School, graduating in 1995. After Stanford he went to work at Knight-Ridder where he was working on internet projects for the publishing company.[11]

Skoll's eBay era
Further information: eBay

In 1996 Skoll met eBay's founder Pierre Omidyar, who hired him as the company's first president and first full-time employee. While eBay was already profitable at the time Skoll joined, he wrote the business plan that eBay followed from its emergence as a start-up to a great success. He remained President until the arrival of Meg Whitman in January 1998 when he became vice president, Strategic Planning and Analysis until back problems necessitated his departure from full-time employment at the company. In 1998, he championed the creation of the eBay Foundation, which was allocated pre-IPO stock now worth $32 million. Once eBay's second largest stockholder, behind Omidyar, he subsequently cashed out a portion of his company holdings, yielding him around $2 billion.[3][4]

Participant Media

Founding

Jeff Skoll founded Participant Media in 2004 with the premise that a good story well told can help change the world. As the leading media company dedicated to entertainment that inspires and compels social change, Participant Media's projects combine the power of a great story with opportunities for global audiences to get involved.

Participant Media has produced more than 75 feature and documentary films that have collectively earned 52 Academy Award® nominations and 11 wins and have highlighted some of the most pressing issues of our time, including climate change, gender inequity, water scarcity, pandemics, and cybersecurity. Initially founded with a focus on film, over the past decade Participant has expanded to become a multi-platform content company producing and distributing film, television and digital entertainment.

Film production career

Its first three films were Syriana; Good Night, and Good Luck; and North Country, along with the documentary Murderball. These films accounted for 11 Oscar nominations in 2006. Subsequent films have included An Inconvenient Truth, American Gun, Fast Food Nation, and The World According to Sesame Street. An Inconvenient Truth won two Oscars in 2007 and has been credited with extending the public debate over climate change. Other films in 2007 included Charlie Wilson's War with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, The Kite Runner directed by Marc Forster, Angels in the Dust about an AIDS orphanage in South Africa, Darfur Now about the genocide in Darfur with Don Cheadle, and Man from Plains, a film about Jimmy Carter directed by Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme.[12]

Films in 2008 included The Visitor, by Thomas McCarthy with Richard Jenkins and Hiam Abbass; Chicago 10, based on the 1968 Democratic convention protests; Standard Operating Procedure, a documentary about Abu Ghraib by Errol Morris; The Cove, a documentary about the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan; The Crazies, an updated version of the George A. Romero biotoxin thriller from 1973; and Pressure Cooker, a documentary about an inner-city school cooking contest, set in Philadelphia. A 2010 film released in the US on Earth Day, April 22, was Oceans, a documentary about the oceans by Jacques Perrin, director of the Oscar-winning Winged Migration.[12]

Another 2010 film was Waiting for "Superman". In 2011, through a 50–50 partnership with Image Nation Abu Dhabi,[13] the company produced Contagion and The Help, both commercial successes and the latter getting multiple Oscar nominations, including best picture. In 2012, the company produced through its partnership with Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Participant Media produced Lincoln, which garnered 12 Oscar nominations including best picture for the producers.[6] The company has released 43 films and garnered 35 Oscar nominations, while contributing to social change.[12]

Skoll was executive producer of Spotlight, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture on February 28, 2016. The company also has publishing and television divisions, and operates Takepart.com, an online site catering to social activists.[14][12]

Philanthropy

Skoll is a noted philanthropist; he is a recipient of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, and a Giving Pledge signatory.[15] [16]He has given the eponymous Skoll Foundation approximately $1 billion of eBay stock since its formation in 1999. The Foundation supports "social entrepreneurship".[17] Skoll chairs the Foundation and as of 2020 makes grants in excess of $80 million per year. The Skoll Foundation's assets rank it as the largest foundation for social entrepreneurship in the world.[18]

As of 2020, Skoll has been working for over ten years to help prevent pandemics and other global threats.[19] In 2009, Skoll donated $100 million to create the Skoll Global Threats Fund to confront threats to humanity in 5 areas: climate change, water security, pandemics, nuclear proliferation, and Middle East conflict.[20] The Fund created and spun off a stand alone non-profit entity, Ending Pandemics, that focuses on pandemic detection and response.[21] In 2011, Skoll's film company Participant Media co-produced the film Contagion to raise awareness about the dangers posed by pandemics. He wanted the film to be scientifically sound and encourage funding of medical experts; in 2020, media coverage noted it was "shocking in its accuracy".[22] In 2020, Skoll donated $20 million in January, and then an additional $100 million in April, to the Skoll Foundation for use in combating the covid-19 pandemic.[23] [24] The $100 million donation was intended to be used to assist with covid-19 testing, contact tracing, and providing respiratory devices and other medical equipment to countries that cannot afford it or lack infrastructure to support it.[25]

Skoll is a member of the Berggruen Institute's 21st Century Council.[26]

In 2005, Skoll financed The Gandhi Project in partnership with Relief International which created a dubbed version in Arabic of the film Gandhi.[27] They used Palestinian voice actors and artists to make the film particularly relevant to Palestinians. With Skoll's support, it was screened throughout Palestine to promote non-violence, self-reliance, economic development, and empowerment.

Personal life

Jeff Skoll married fellow Canadian Stephanie Swedlove in October 2014. He is an avid Montreal Canadiens fan.

Honours and awards
  • Bloomberg Business Week's list of most innovative philanthropists (2002–present)[2]
  • National Leadership Award for Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley (2004)[2]
  • Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the International Association of Fundraising Professionals (2003)[2]
  • Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the Silicon Valley chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (2002)[2]
  • Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto (2003)[2]
  • Time Magazine's 100 People of the Year (2006)[2]
  • Wired Magazine's Rave Award (2006)[2]
  • He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his generous commitment to social causes and for his innovative practice of philanthropy."[28] (2011)[2]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Notes
2005Good Night, and Good Luckexecutive producer
North Countryexecutive producer
Syrianaexecutive producer
2006American Gunexecutive producer
The World According to Sesame Streetexecutive producer
An Inconvenient Truthexecutive producer
Fast Food Nationexecutive producer
2007Chicago 10executive producer
Angels in the Dustexecutive producer
Man from Plainsexecutive producer
Darfur Nowexecutive producer
The Kite Runnerexecutive producer
Charlie Wilson's Warexecutive producer
2008The Visitorexecutive producer
Standard Operating Procedureexecutive producer
Pressure Cookerexecutive producer
Food, Inc.executive producer
2009The Soloistexecutive producer
The Informant!executive producer
2010The Craziesexecutive producer
Furry Vengeanceexecutive producer
Waiting for "Superman" executive producer
Fair Gameexecutive producer
2011The Beaverexecutive producer
The Helpexecutive producer
Contagionexecutive producer
2012The Best Exotic Marigold Hotelexecutive producer
Lincolnexecutive producer
Promised Landexecutive producer
Noexecutive producer
2013Snitchexecutive producer
A Place at the Tableexecutive producer
Made in Americaexecutive producer
The Fifth Estateexecutive producer
2014The Hundred-Foot Journeyexecutive producer
Merchants of Doubtexecutive producer
A Most Violent Yearexecutive producer
2015The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotelexecutive producer
He Named Me Malalaexecutive producer
Bridge of Spiesexecutive producer
Our Brand Is Crisisexecutive producer
Spotlightexecutive producer
2016Nerudaproducer
The Light Between Oceansexecutive producer
Denialexecutive producer
Deepwater Horizonexecutive producer
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Lifeexecutive producer
A Monster Callsexecutive producer
2017An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Powerproducer
Shot Callerexecutive producer
2018Captive Stateexecutive producer

TV series
Year Title Notes
2016Truth to Powerexecutive producer
gollark: They're safety mines.
gollark: I can ship you some mines if you want them.
gollark: Oh.
gollark: 16 mines? Is it not just listing adjacent mines?
gollark: Well, don't tell anyone that you made Macron, then.

See also

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Jeff Skoll". Forbes. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  2. "Stocks". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
  3. "The thinking man's movie mogul", Telegraph Magazine 26 August 2006
  4. Malone, Michael S., "The indie movie mogul", Wired magazine, February 2006.
  5. "Jeffrey Skoll". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  6. "Oscar nominations are not the goal: Participant Media CEO", Marketplace, February 21, 2013. Interview by Kai Ryssdal with Participant CEO Jim Berk. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  7. Calcalist.co.il
  8. Biography, ,The History of Computing Project
  9. Times of Israel: "Who said Jews run Hollywood? -Inaugural list of 100 prominent players in Tinseltown shows a lack of diversity -- and a whole lot of MOTs" by Lisa Klug 23 June 2016
  10. Cohen, Adam, The Perfect Store: Inside Ebay Archived 2006-06-30 at the Wayback Machine, ISBN 0-316-16493-3
  11. "Skoll | Meet Jeff Skoll". skoll.org. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
  12. "Jeff Skoll". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
  13. "Participant, Imagenation form $250 mln film-financing fund"
  14. Takepart.com
  15. Paynter, Ben (2017-06-27). "Meet The Winners Of The Carnegie Medal Of Philanthropy". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  16. "Meet the Canadian billionaire who's giving it all away". Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  17. "An Open Letter To Jeff Skoll". Open Letter. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  18. "Explorer 2 | Social Entrepreneurship Hub". sehub.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  19. Dolan, Kerry A. "How The Billionaire Behind The Movie 'Contagion' Is Working To Stop This Pandemic—And The Next One". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  20. www.philanthropy.com https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Jeff-Skoll-Adds-100-Million/248629. Retrieved 2020-07-17. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. Schultz, Abby. "Jeff Skoll's $100M for Covid-19 Builds on Legacy Fighting Pandemics". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  22. Farr, Christina (2020-04-14). "The medical advisors for the movie 'Contagion' saw a pandemic coming, but got one big thing wrong". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  23. Schultz, Abby. "Jeff Skoll's $100M for Covid-19 Builds on Legacy Fighting Pandemics". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  24. Dolan, Kerry A. "The Billionaire Behind The Movie 'Contagion' Just Gave $100 Million To Fight Coronavirus". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  25. www.philanthropy.com https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Jeff-Skoll-Adds-100-Million/248629. Retrieved 2020-07-17. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. "Berggruen Institure". Archived from the original on 2017-01-06. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  27. Harris, Dana; Harris, Dana (2005-04-06). "'Gandhi' in Mideast". Variety. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  28. "Meet the Canadian billionaire who's giving it all away". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
Business positions
Preceded by
New title		 Chief Executive Officer of eBay
1996–1998		 Succeeded by
Meg Whitman
President of eBay
1996–1998
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