Q&A: Craig Newmark focuses gifts on journalism, cyberdefense

By GLENN GAMBOA
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Craig Newmark talks about getting focused, even as he is momentarily distracted by his beloved birds flying away from the numerous feeders in his courtyard to go visit some of his Manhattan neighbors. “I’m trying to be a bit more focused, because a lot of what I do has to do with defending the country,” said Newmark, best known as the founder of Craigslist, though, since 2016, his philanthropic work has stretched his influence well beyond expanding the world of classified ads onto the internet with his pioneering website. Newmark donated $81 million to those causes in 2022, returning him to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of biggest donors, The Philanthropy 50, released Tuesday.