The Hijacking of Philanthropy: From Noble Causes to Power Plays and Tax Dodges

My commentary on Laurene Powell Jobs' Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Beware of Philanthropists Who Want Control in Exchange for Their

There was a time when philanthropy meant building libraries, funding vaccines, or helping the poor eat dinner instead of ideology. Now? It’s a performance—a virtue economy for the wealthy, dressed in “impact” buzzwords and tax write-offs.

This week, Laurene Powell Jobs threw a quiet grenade into that shiny world with her Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Beware of Philanthropists Who Want Control in Exchange for Their Giving.” She didn’t just shade the game—she exposed it. Powell Jobs warned that mega-donors like Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff aren’t simply giving; they’re buying policy leverage, steering governments with their checkbooks, and turning charity into a power sport.

Ironically, her own Emerson Collective—an LLC that’s part philanthropy, part investment vehicle—proves the point. It’s a hybrid model with fewer regulations, more flexibility, and a fog of moral gray that fits perfectly into this new world of “good for business” benevolence.

And that’s the rot I’ve wanted to call out for …