Most people know exactly what they want to do when they grow up, and sometimes they end up doing what they loved as children. In the case of Laurene Powell Jobs, billionaire philanthropist and the widow of Apple’s visionary Steve Jobs, it’s certainly the latter. Today, she’s a formidable force in philanthropy through her Emerson Collective, yet the seeds of her generosity were sown long before there were billions in the bank. Even as a child, she gave what she could, long before she could define what giving truly meant.
The 61-year-old billionaire, worth around $13 billion, made her first foray into charity near the beginning of high school in West Milford, New Jersey. After reading about the Southern Poverty Law Center, she dipped into her savings to send a cashier’s check for about $20, according to The Washington Post. Powell Jobs, who later inherited her fortune, largely Apple and Walt Disney Co. shares, from her late husband, vividly recalls receiving thank-you letters from civil rights icon Morris Dees.
“They would reliably write to me a couple of times a year,” she said. “I would read them over and over, and they told really beautiful stories. I was always animated by the notion of who gets the opportunity and who doesn’t.” What’s remarkable here isn’t the $20 donation, it’s that she gave it despite having so little herself. The ambitious daughter of a Marine Corps pilot who died in a mid-air collision when she was just three, Laurene was raised by her mother, who single-handedly cared for four children under six. Money was scarce, and the siblings all took on paper routes to earn a few extra dollars. With little money for travel to travel, she collected foreign stamps, dreaming of the places she might one day see.
Fate, however, had grander plans. The same girl who once pored over stamps went on to take student loans, juggle multiple jobs, and fund her education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied economics, political science, and French. Today, she can visit any destination she desires, often aboard Venus, the $120 million superyacht designed by Philippe Starck for her late husband. Yet her earliest act of kindness, giving when she herself needed help, remains the truest reflection of her character. For many billionaires, generosity is a rounding error. For Powell Jobs, it’s instinct. Through the Waverley Street Foundation (which has already disbursed over $800 million in climate grants), she has committed $3.5 billion over a decade to organizations tackling climate change.
A Stanford MBA graduate, she also leads the Emerson Collective, a hybrid of philanthropy and impact investing focused on education, environmental justice, health, and immigration reform. When people say “start them young,” they might well be referring to this mother of three, who once said with disarming simplicity, “If there’s nothing left when I die, that’s just fine.” A statement that captures a life’s journey, from paper routes and postage stamps to reshaping the world, one purposeful gift at a time.
