Craig Newmark: the nerd who shook up the media giants
Twenty-five years ago, Craig Newmark lost his job at a brokerage and fired off an email to friends. That seeded a venture, Craigslist, that dominates online advertising in the US to this day.
In March 1995, Craig Newmark fired off an email to his friends, says Forbes. Having just been laid off from his job at discount brokerage Charles Schwab, he “used his severance package and newfound time off” to compile an electronic list of upcoming art and technology events in his recently adopted city. Originally called “San Francisco Events”, the missive swiftly went viral among the city’s new technorati – morphing into Craig’s List and, later, Craigslist.
A bold and radical vision
Nothing much about Newmark, now 67, smacks of glamour. Even at the peak of his notoriety, when he was dubbed “the destroyer of journalism”, the former IBM engineer cut an unlikely crusading figure. Newmark is, observed a Guardian profile in 2006, “a man so nerdish he makes [Bill] Gates look like a flamboyant playboy”. Yet he had “a radical and highly motivated intelligence”. By then, Craigslist was already “wiping out newspapers” – gobbling up the classified adverts they needed to keep afloat – and Newmark was proclaiming himself “part of a visionary movement” bent on “slaying the old media” and replacing it with “an online army of ‘citizen journalists’, beholden to no proprietor or political party”. In the early days of social media, that was radical stuff. The Guardian was so impressed it concluded that, in “the emerging pantheon of technology pioneers”, Newmark “may even be the greatest of them all”.
Given that Newmark relinquished hands-on management of Craigslist 20 years ago and has yet to repeat its success in any subsequent venture, that prediction now looks wide of the mark. And yet it would be foolish to understate the quiet stranglehold his baby continues to exert on the market, says Forbes. Or, indeed, the profits that Newmark, who still owns at least 42% of Craigslist, continues to cream off the business. “One of the last true dotcom era holdovers to still dominate the web”, Craigslist is “still where most Americans go to buy and sell locally online” and a veritable “cash-cow”, pulling in upwards of $690m in 2016 alone.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
A new venture falters
Born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1952, Newmark dreamed of becoming a quantum physicist but drifted into computer systems, says BusinessInsider. After joining IBM, Newmark spent ten years in Detroit and six more in Florida. But his life only really “took off” in 1993 when he moved to the Bay Area as a freelance computer expert and was seduced by “the countercultural ethos”.
“In an age of pre-revenue unicorns and overvalued tech companies”, Craigslist – which has always made a point of eschewing flashy growth and outside investment – is “an anomaly”, says Forbes. Yet the company’s finances remain opaque. “It’s unclear where Craigslist’s profits go” and Newmark is decidedly cagey when the subject of his own wealth is brought up.
Perhaps stung by the charge of “killing journalism”, Newmark now mainly devotes his life to philanthropy – much of it connected with protecting the free press; he has given millions to journalistic foundations. Still, a recent non-profit venture he backed – a tech publication called The Markup – has struggled, suffering a mass editorial exodus. Better luck next time.
Jane writes profiles for MoneyWeek and is city editor of The Week. A former British Society of Magazine Editors editor of the year, she cut her teeth in journalism editing The Daily Telegraph’s Letters page and writing gossip for the London Evening Standard – while contributing to a kaleidoscopic range of business magazines including Personnel Today, Edge, Microscope, Computing, PC Business World, and Business & Finance.
She has edited corporate publications for accountants BDO, business psychologists YSC Consulting, and the law firm Stephenson Harwood – also enjoying a stint as a researcher for the due diligence department of a global risk advisory firm.
Her sole book to date, Stay or Go? (2016), rehearsed the arguments on both sides of the EU referendum.
She lives in north London, has a degree in modern history from Trinity College, Oxford, and is currently learning to play the drums.
-
Hargreaves Lansdown bumps up cash ISA with £25 cashback - does it beat the wider ISA market?
Just days before the end of the tax year, Hargreaves Lansdown has launched a £25 bonus for those who open a cash ISA on its savings platform. Does the bonus make it a competitive rate, and are you eligible for the cashback?
By Vaishali Varu Published
-
FCA targets finfluencers with new social media guidance
So-called finfluencers have been warned by the UK financial watchdog that they could face prosecution if they fail to follow new rules.
By Henry Sandercock Published
-
Should your business invest in a VoIP phone service?
Here's what you need to know about VOIP (voice over IP) services before landlines go digital in 2025.
By David Prosser Published
-
The end of China’s boom
Like the US, China too got fat on fake money. Now, China's doom is not far away.
By Bill Bonner Published
-
The many frauds of Dozy Mmobuosi, failed Sheffield United owner
Profile Dozy Mmobuosi was a big-hitter with a fintech empire when he stepped in to rescue a failing Yorkshire football club. But he was not quite the saviour he seemed.
By Jane Lewis Published
-
What is the future of Royal Mail in the UK?
With fewer of us sending letters and parcels, the Royal Mail is finding dealing with the nation’s post is an increasingly unprofitable and costly business.
By Simon Wilson Published
-
What's the secret of Manolo Blahnik's success?
Fashion maestro Manolo Blahnik shows little sign of slowing down at 81, and his company notched up a record financial year in 2022. What is the secret of his success?
By Jane Lewis Published
-
Michelle Mone's "tough year of pain"
Michelle Mone liked to portray herself as a working-class heroine who worked her way to the top through grit and determination. But her pedestal is built on sand.
By Jane Lewis Published
-
Trevor Milton, the Elon Musk wannabe, is jailed for fraud
The former CEO of Nikola, Trevor Milton, has been found guilty of lying about the development of the company's electric trucks.
By Jane Lewis Published
-
Directors should think twice before waiving limited liability
Should small-business directors ever provide a personal guarantee in return for bank finance?
By David Prosser Published