Photo: Skoll World Forum / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Jeff Skoll's trajectory genuinely moves me. A Montreal-born, Toronto-educated engineer who became eBay's first president and built a fortune, he could have stopped there. Instead he turned that wealth toward philanthropy and storytelling, through the Skoll Foundation and his media company devoted to films that push for social change, later earning the Order of Canada. What strikes me is the rare pairing of talent for making money with the conviction to spend it well. Plenty of people get rich; very few try to make the world better with the proceeds. That kind of ambition is the sort I deeply respect.
Overview
Jeffrey Stuart Skoll (born January 16, 1965) is a Canadian engineer, billionaire internet entrepreneur and film producer. He was the first president of eBay, eventually using the wealth this gave him to become a philanthropist, particularly through the Skoll Foundation, and his media company Participant Media. He founded an investment firm, Capricorn Investment Group, soon after and currently serves as its chairman.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jeff Skoll
- Name (Japanese)
- ジェフリー・スコール
- Reading
- じぇふりー・すこーる
- Born
- January 16, 1965 (age 61)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Snake
- Origin
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film producer / computer scientist / engineer / entrepreneur / manager
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of Toronto
Awards & achievements
- Officer of the Order of Canada
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Film producer — see all → · Computer scientist — see all → · More people from Canada →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.