Super Successful Entrepreneurs That Are Giving Back to The World

Super Successful Entrepreneurs That Are Giving Back to The World
Posted November 11, 2017 & filed under Technology.
Entrepreneurship isn’t all about making money, it is also about giving it back. Some entrepreneurs have reached this realization and are starting to give back to the world. Who are these entrepreneurs and how are they helping the world?
Think your life is tough? Travel to the remote areas of Africa or the slums of South Asia and I can bet you won’t be thinking that anymore. Without getting into the details, here’s an important life lesion: no matter how hard you think your life is, there will always be someone whose life is far tougher than yours. So, be thankful for what you have and start helping those less fortunate than you in whatever way you can. You need to do this both on an individual level and as an entrepreneur.
While you’re working out the ways to give back to the world, there are many entrepreneurs who are already doing that. However, only a few have them have gotten recognition for their work. Who are these entrepreneurs and what are they doing to help the world?
Mark Zuckerberg
Have you ever noticed Mark Zuckerberg’s attire? You probably have! Despite being the founder of the world biggest social networking platform and one of the world’s richest people under 35, Zuckerberg never dresses over the top. You’d hardly find him wearing a tuxedo, or the latest designer clothes. In fact, his attire is more casual than yours or mine. What do think is the reason for that? The simple is simple: he’d rather help the needy out there, than spend exorbitantly on himself. Evidence of this is the $1 billion that he donated to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a foundation that serves the poor and needy in Silicon Valley.
Sergey Brin
Next on our list is Sergey Brin, one of Google’s co-founders. In 2013, Brin made a donation of over $200 million to a foundation that he founded. Known as the Brin Wojcicki Foundation, the foundation started by the Sergey Brin helps the needy in the country as well as those across the globe. In addition to making the aforementioned-donation to his own foundation, Brin has donated to many other charities, most notably to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Mark Cuban
The owner of Dallas Mavericks and a renowned business man, Mark Cuban is most famous for his appearances on the award-winning reality TV show Shark Tank. But, not many people about his philanthropic work. To help the families of the U.S military personnel killed or injured during the operations in Iraq carried out after 9/11, Cuban initiated the Fallen Patriot Fund in 2003. Cuban has a foundation named the Mark Cuban Foundation. The foundation was founded by Mark, but is run by his brother Brian. Though Brian does not operate any charitable activities for the foundation, he did contribute a million dollars to the fund set up by brother Mark. Immediately after Brian’s made the contribution, Mark matched it up by contributing the same amount to the fund.
The foundation set up by Mark Cuban serves people in the Dallas area as well as those throughout the United States. In addition to making regular contributions to his own foundation, Mark Cuban donates regularly to other charities as well.
Tej Kohli
An Indian entrepreneur, Tej Kohli is a real estate tycoon and the founder of the Tej Kohli Foundation. Even during his early entrepreneurial days, Kohli was keen to give back to the society, and this was what prompted him to start the Tej Kohli Foundation. Unlike the entrepreneurs mentioned-above, Kohli doesn’t just contribute money to his foundation and other charities, he also organizes and participates in activities and community programs that help make the world a better place. This includes fighting poverty, helping lower the risk of preventable diseases and promoting and facilitating education where there’s a need for it.
Stephen Ross
Another real estate tycoon, Ross is the founder of Related Companies, a real estate firm based in New York City. In 2013, Stephen Ross donated $200 million of his money to the University of Michigan. The purpose of this donation was inspiring other alumni to help reach the mammoth $4 billion fundraising goal of the company. Ross is also a regular contributor to a variety of charities.
James Clark
James Clark is probably one of the first names that comes to mind when entrepreneur and philanthropy are used in the same breath. Clark co-founded Netscape, an American computer services company, but that isn’t all that he is known for. He is also known for a $60 million contribution that he recently made to the James H. Clark Center for Biomedical Engineering and Sciences at Stanford University, a department that he co-founded in 1999.
While most people are aware of the above-mentioned, contribution by Clark, they aren’t aware of the fact that he had previously contributed a higher amount to the same department. That contribution was worth $90 million.
Anne Wojcicki
Giving back to the world isn’t all about giving charity or help fundraising initiatives, it is also about making the world a more ‘enjoyable’ place to be. This is exactly what Anne Wojcicki, the CEO of 23andME, a genetic testing company, aims to do. She wants to create a super-vibrant environment where people love to hang-out. So, how exactly is Anne Wojcicki helping to bring about the change she wants to see? Wojcicki has opened a restaurant and runs an arts-and-crafts store which she hopes will motivate people in the area to socialize more and make new friends.
As proved by Anne Wojcicki, you don’t have to give millions or billions in charity to give back to the world as an entrepreneur. Just make any contribution that you think will make the world a better place and you will have done your job.