Craigslist founder Craig Newmark told the WSJ that he plans to donate $100 million to further strengthen U.S. cybersecurity in response to what he sees as growing threats from foreign governments. Half of the money will be focused on protecting the power grid and other infrastructure from cyberattacks, while the other half will be allocated to educating people about so-called cybersecurity hygiene.
Newmark, 71, has donated or pledged more than $400 million since he began his philanthropic endeavors in 2015, and cybersecurity has long been at the top of his cause list. (He told Fortune magazine last year that threats to America from bad actors are now an “all hands on deck” situation.)
Newmark, who advocates for a free and independent press and, to a lesser extent, pigeon conservation, told The Wall Street Journal that his donation was inspired by the Jewish idea of tikkun olam (repairing the world) that he learned from his Sunday school teacher, and told Fortune that he plans to give away his entire fortune in his lifetime.