July 2, 2009 | Read Time: 2 minutes
NEW BOOKS
Tech Billionaires: Reshaping Philanthropy in a Quest for a Better World
by Lewis D. Solomon
Billionaires who made their fortunes through technology and Internet ventures have changed what it means to be a philanthropist, writes Lewis D. Solomon, a law professor at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.
Unlike the philanthropists of the early 20th century, such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockfeller, technology billionaires blur the line between business and charity. Writes Mr. Solomon: “They run their philanthropic endeavors in the same hands-on way they ran their businesses. Seeing themselves as investors, they want to apply the best elements of the for-profit world to their giving so as to maximize its social return, at least as each one sees it.”
Mr. Solomon briefly devotes a separate chapter to each of the prominent technology billionaires who have established their own grant-making entities: Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder; the founder of eBay, Pierre Omidyar, and eBay’s first president, Jeffrey Skoll; Stephen Case, the co-founder of America Online; and Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who founded Google.
The book summarizes the varied approaches these men take toward their giving. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation follows the more traditional approach to philanthropy by supporting ambitious projects with clear goals. Both Mr. Omidyar and Mr. Skoll have brought elements of venture capitalism to their philanthropies, and prefer to operate on a more modest scale than the Gates foundation: The Omidyar Network supports groups that provide small loans to poor people to start businesses, and the Skoll Foundation finances social-entrepreneurship projects. Mr. Case supports mission-driven for-profit businesses. Finally, Mr. Brin and Mr. Page created Google.org, which Mr. Solomon dubs “the corporation as philanthropist.”
Mr. Solomon also explores how those billionaires approach the future, especially how for-profit approaches will be merged into the world of philanthropy. “In the twenty-first century, the tools and resources used to solve societal problems will be far more varied and mixed than previously,” he writes. “The divide between profit and social good will narrow.”
Publisher: Transaction Publishers, Rutgers University, 35 Berrue Circle, Piscataway, N.J. 08854; (732) 445-2280; fax (732) 445-3138; http://www.transactionpub.com; 146 pages; $34.95; ISBN 1-4128-0847-7.
