Jeffrey Skoll
Jeffrey Skoll | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 16, 1965 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Engineer, entrepreneur, film producer, philanthropist |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Known for | First president of eBay; founder of Participant Media; chairman of Capricorn Investment Group |
Jeffrey Stuart Skoll (born January 16, 1965) is a Canadian engineer turned billionaire entrepreneur and film producer. He was the inaugural president of eBay and utilized his fortune to become a notable philanthropist through the Skoll Foundation and his media enterprise, Participant Media. Additionally, he established Capricorn Investment Group, where he currently holds the position of chairman. Originating from Montreal, Quebec, Skoll completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto in 1987 and later attended the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University in 1993.
Following his business education, Skoll joined eBay and crafted the strategic business plan that propelled the company from a fledgling startup to a significant industry player. He also founded the eBay Foundation, which was initially funded with pre-IPO shares now valued at $32 million. As the second-largest shareholder behind Omidyar, Skoll liquidated a portion of his stake, earning roughly $2 billion. In December 2016, Forbes estimated his net worth at $4 billion, ranking him as the seventh richest Canadian and 134th wealthiest individual in the United States.
As founder, owner, and chairman of Participant Media, Skoll produced several critically praised films such as Syriana (2005), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), North Country (2005), and the documentary Murderball (2005), collectively garnering 11 Academy Award nominations in 2006. Subsequent projects include An Inconvenient Truth (2006), Fast Food Nation (2006), Waiting for "Superman" (2010), Lincoln (2012), and Spotlight (2015), with the latter winning Best Picture at the 2016 Oscars.
Early life
Jeff Skoll was born into a Jewish household in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His mother worked as an educator while his father ran a chemical business. The family relocated to Toronto during the late 1970s. At age fourteen, following his father’s cancer diagnosis, Skoll began working various jobs, starting by pumping gas at a station in York Mills.
He graduated with honours in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto in 1987, earning a Bachelor of Applied Science degree. While attending university, he co-edited The Toike Oike, a satirical newspaper produced by engineering students, and supported himself through part-time work pumping gas. After completing his degree, he traveled internationally with a backpack before launching two companies based in Toronto: Skoll Engineering, an IT consultancy firm, and Micros on the Move Ltd., specializing in computer rentals. In 1993, he left Canada to pursue an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business, graduating in 1995. Afterward, he contributed to internet initiatives for Knight-Ridder publishing.
Skoll's eBay era
In 1996, Skoll met Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, and became the platform’s first president as well as its first full-time employee. Although eBay was already generating profits at that time, Skoll developed the comprehensive business plan that directed its expansion over the following five years. He held the role of President until Meg Whitman joined as CEO in 1998; afterward, he transitioned to Vice President of Strategic Planning and Analysis before stepping back from daily operations due to health concerns. That same year, he launched the eBay Foundation with an endowment consisting of pre-IPO shares currently valued at $32 million. As eBay’s second-largest shareholder after Omidyar, Skoll eventually sold portions of his equity for about $2 billion.
Participant
Jeff Skoll established Participant in 2004 with the mission to create films that highlight social challenges and motivate audiences to engage through educational initiatives and advocacy campaigns. The company's debut slate in 2005—including Syriana, Good Night, and Good Luck, North Country, and Murderball—garnered a total of 11 Academy Award nominations. The following year, Participant released the environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which won the Oscar for Best Feature Documentary.
By 2009, Participant had become a prominent entity in the realm of socially conscious filmmaking, with Skoll serving as chairman. The organization’s productions address critical topics such as climate change, education reform, and women’s rights, embodying Skoll’s progressive aim to inspire collective action. The company’s name itself reflects its commitment to active participation.
Throughout his tenure, Skoll has executive produced nearly 100 films under the Participant banner, including acclaimed Oscar-winning works like Spotlight, Roma, and American Factory. By 2019, Participant had earned 73 Academy Award nominations and secured 18 wins. In 2020, American Factory added another Oscar for Best Documentary Feature to the company’s accolades.
In 2014, Skoll provided funding to establish the Skoll Center for Social Impact Entertainment at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, supporting storytellers dedicated to driving social transformation. A joint report by Participant and the Skoll Center in 2019 emphasized social impact entertainment as a key direction for the industry’s future.
Participant was honored with the first-ever TIFF Impact Award in 2019, accepted by Skoll alongside CEO David Linde; a year later, this accolade was renamed the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media to recognize filmmakers advancing social change.
In April 2024, Skoll announced that Participant would cease operations.
Philanthropy
As a signatory of the Giving Pledge and recipient of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, Skoll has contributed roughly $1 billion in eBay stock to the Skoll Foundation since 1999, championing social entrepreneurship.
Since 2009, his philanthropic focus has centered on global risks, allocating $100 million to launch the Skoll Global Threats Fund, which targets issues such as climate change, pandemics, water security, nuclear proliferation, and conflicts in the Middle East. This fund helped establish Ending Pandemics, a nonprofit dedicated to pandemic detection and response. In 2011, Skoll’s company Participant co-produced Contagion, a film praised for its scientific accuracy that raised public awareness about pandemics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he donated $120 million to support efforts including testing, contact tracing, and supplying medical equipment to underserved regions.
Skoll practices collaborative philanthropy and co-founded Co-Impact in 2017 with an initial $500 million investment aimed at improving health, education, and economic opportunity in low- and middle-income countries. In 2018, he played a key role in launching The Audacious Project with $250 million committed to backing large-scale social impact projects such as the Environmental Defense Fund and The Bail Project.
His philanthropic efforts also include funding academic institutions: establishing the Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University’s Said Business School in 2003—home to the influential annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship—and founding the Skoll Center for Social Impact Entertainment at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2019 to promote social change through arts and media.
In 2005, Skoll supported The Gandhi Project with Relief International by financing an Arabic-dubbed version of Gandhi. This initiative enlisted Palestinian artists to foster messages of non-violence and empowerment across Palestine.
In 2000, he endowed C$7.5 million to the University of Toronto to create three academic chairs and launch the Jeffrey Skoll BASc/MBA Program—a combined curriculum integrating engineering with business education.
Impact investing
Skoll was among the pioneers advocating for impact investing, concentrating on profit-driven enterprises that generate both social benefits and financial gains. In 2001, he established Capricorn Investment Group with a foundation rooted in socially responsible investment principles. Currently, Capricorn oversees more than $5 billion in assets under management and $3.5 billion through partnerships. A large share of these funds is allocated to private firms tackling environmental challenges and climate change solutions. Early portfolio companies included Tesla, QuantumScape, and Joby Aviation. Capricorn also supported Encourage Solar Finance to advance rooftop solar installations in India.
In 2016, Skoll partnered with Bono and TPG to launch The Rise Fund, a $2 billion social impact investment vehicle that employs rigorous criteria to assess social performance. The Rise Fund invests across various industries such as agriculture, healthcare, and education, and since its inception in 2017, it has financed over 25 companies in growth stages that deliver quantifiable social or environmental benefits.
Other activities
In November 2022, Skoll acquired a minority ownership interest in Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
Personal life
Skoll married television executive Stephanie Swedlove in 2014; the couple initiated divorce proceedings in January 2019.
Honors and awards
- Featured on Bloomberg Businessweek's list of most innovative philanthropists (2002–present)
- National Leadership Award from the Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley (2004)
- Recipient of Outstanding Philanthropist Awards by the International Association of Fundraising Professionals (2002, 2003)
- Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto (2003)
- Included in Time Magazine's 100 People of the Year (2006)
- Winner of Wired Magazine's Rave Award (2006)
- Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada for contributions to philanthropy and social causes (2011)
- Awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy (2017)
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | House of D | executive producer |
| 2005 | Good Night, and Good Luck, North Country, Syriana, American Gun | executive producer |
| 2006 | The World According to Sesame Street, An Inconvenient Truth, Fast Food Nation | executive producer |
| 2007 | Chicago 10, Angels in the Dust, Man from Plains, Darfur Now, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, The Visitor | executive producer |
| 2008 | Standard Operating Procedure, Pressure Cooker, Food, Inc. | executive producer |
| 2009 | The Soloist, The Informant! | executive producer |
| 2010 | The Crazies, Furry Vengeance, Waiting for "Superman" , Fair Game, Countdown to Zero, Cane Toads: The Conquest, Casino Jack and the United States of Money | executive producer |
| 2011 | The Beaver, The Help, Contagion, Last Call at the Oasis, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | executive producer |
| 2012 | A Place at the Table, State 194, Lincoln, Promised Land, No | executive producer |
| 2013 | Snitch, Made in America, The Fifth Estate, The Square, The Unknown Known | executive producer |
| 2014 | Ceaser Chavez, The Great Invisible, Misconception, The Prophet, The Ardor, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Out of the Dark, Merchants of Doubt, Citizenfour, A Most Violent Year | executive producer |
| 2015 | 3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, He Named Me Malala, Bridge of Spies, Beasts of No Nation, Our Brand Is Crisis, Spotlight | executive producer |
| 2016 | Zero Days, The Music of Strangers, Death by a Thousand Cuts, Neruda, The Light Between Oceans, Denial, Deepwater Horizon, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, A Monster Calls, Midsommer in Newtown | executive or producer |
| 2017 | An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Melting Ice, A Fantastic Woman, Shot Caller, Human Flow, Far from the Tree, Wonder | executive or producer |
| 2018 | The Price of Free, 7 Days in Entebbe, Foster, This is Climate Change, Roma, Aquarela, Green Book, On the Basis of Sex | executive producer |
| 2019 | The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, American Factory, Captive State, Watson, Slay the Dragon, Just Mercy, Sing Me a Song, Dark Waters | executive producer |
| 2020 | John Lewis: Good Trouble, Final Account, American Utopia, Totally Under Control | executive producer |
| 2021 | My Name is Pauli Murray, Judas and the Black Messiah, Unseen Skies, White Coat Rebels, Stillwater, Costa Brava, Lebanon, The Good House, The First Wave | executive producer |
| 2022 | Descendant, ¡Viva Maestro!, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, A Compassionate Spy, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed | executive producer |
| 2023 | White Bird, We Grown Now, TBA: Rob Peace | executive producer |
TV series
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Jersey Strong | executive producer |
| 2013 | Teach | executive producer |
| 2014 | HitRecord on TV | executive producer |
| 2014 | Human Resources | executive producer |
| 2014–2016 | Please Like Me | executive producer |
| 2015–2016 | Angry Planet | executive producer |
| 2015 | Secret Lives of Americans | executive producer |
| 2016 | Truth to Power | executive producer |
| 2018 | America to Me | executive producer |
| 2019 | When They See Us | executive producer |
| 2020 | Noughts + Crosses | executive producer |
| 2020 | City So Real | executive producer |
| 2022 | Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey | executive producer |
See also
- List of billionaires
- List of Canadians
- List of University of Toronto people
- List of Stanford University people
External links
- Skoll Foundation
- Skoll Centre, Oxford University
- Participant Productions
- My journey into movies that matter, TED March 2007
- Wood, Gaby, The Observer – Hollywood's new politics, January 8, 2006
- Forbes – "The World's Richest People" February 13, 2006
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1965 births
- Living people
- American billionaires
- Anglophone Quebec people
- Businesspeople from Los Angeles
- Businesspeople from Montreal
- Businesspeople in information technology
- Businesspeople in online retailing
- Canadian billionaires
- Canadian computer businesspeople
- Canadian computer scientists
- Canadian engineers
- Canadian expatriates in the United States
- Film producers from Quebec
- EBay employees
- 21st-century Canadian philanthropists
- Canadian philanthropists
- Officers of the Order of Canada
- Businesspeople from San Jose, California
- Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni
- University of Toronto alumni
- 21st-century Canadian businesspeople
- 20th-century Canadian businesspeople
- People from Woodside, California
- American film production company founders
- Jewish American film people
- Jewish Canadian film people
- Monumental Sports & Entertainment