They are not just cruising in their superyachts. Here is how Mark Zuckerberg and Laurene Jobs are reshaping housing and education. The Meta CEO is funding backyard homes to tackle America’s housing crisis, whereas Steve Jobs' billionaire widow plans to build schools IKEA style.

Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, who vacation on $300 million megayachts, also build homes and contribute to society in meaningful ways. Take the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, for instance. While the initiative recently underwent a strategic shift, moving away from social advocacy and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to focus more on science and technology, particularly biology and artificial intelligence, it remains committed to its earlier pledges.

One such commitment is a $750,000 grant to BuildCasa, a startup working to increase affordable housing in residential areas. This seed funding aims to create new homeownership opportunities for Americans increasingly priced out of the market. The California-based startup focuses on accessory dwelling units (ADUs), cost-effective backyard homes that could be a game changer for housing accessibility.

“We’re excited about BuildCasa’s model because it is creating new homes within existing, high-opportunity communities that can be sold for less than typical market-rate homes without utilizing public funding to subsidize the projects, which is extremely limited,” said Amaya Bravo-France, a program officer at CZI, in an interview with Fast Company.

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The tech tycoon’s grant will fund the construction of eight housing units. BuildCasa has already closed on two properties in Sacramento using these funds, with the remaining six expected to be completed within two years. The Sacramento two-bedroom homes, measuring 650 square feet, will be priced at $325,000, significantly lower than the area’s median price of approximately $477,000. So far, BuildCasa has helped add nearly 100 units, either approved or under construction, across California, primarily in Sacramento and the Bay Area.

Beyond this, Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have also committed $1.5 million toward the construction of Namahana School, Kauai’s first public school, located just a mile from their $270 million Hawaiian estate.

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Laurene Powell Jobs is building schools Ikea style –
Another billionaire who is making a difference is Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. With a net worth of $15.5 billion, largely from Walt Disney and Apple shares, she is spearheading a unique initiative in collaboration with Spanish architects. Their project? Modular schools, built within an industrial warehouse in Pinto, Madrid, with the goal of transforming education for thousands of students in Barbados.

Her firm, Emerson Collective, has proposed a 300-unit mixed-use housing project on the East Palo Alto waterfront. In June 2024, it submitted a pre-application to the city for this development, which includes spaces for small businesses, community gathering areas, and green spaces.