In 2008, Jeff Atwood, a 1992 University of Virginia graduate, co-founded a hugely successful tech company. Thirteen years later, it sold for $1.6 billion. His bank account was suddenly bursting, and his wealth made him deeply uncomfortable.
“When Stack Overflow sold, I became very wealthy,” he said of the platform he describes as “Wikipedia for programmers.”
“I realized I don’t even know how to spend this much money. What do I spend it on?”
He and his family made a pact to give away half their wealth during the next five years. They began their mission in January, giving $1 million each to eight nonprofit organizations.
Atwood posted the plan to his blog, “Coding Horror.”
“We are at an unprecedented point in American history, and I’m concerned we may lose sight of the American Dream,” he wrote of the belief that everyone has the opportunity to succeed with hard work and determination.
Housing, health care and education costs, Atwood noted, have outpaced inflation and wage growth. Although a democracy, “144 million Americans – 42% of the adults who live here – do not vote and have no say in what happens,” he said. And wealth concentration is at historic levels. “The top 1% of households control 32% of all wealth, while the bottom 50% only have 2.6%,” Atwood wrote.
Atwood poses with his wife Betsy, daughter Maisie, left, who goes by Raisin, daughter June and son Henry. (Contributed photo)
The UVA graduate would not say exactly how much money he is giving away. “By most measures, it’s a lot. But due to the wealth concentration, it’s really nothing. Because the wealth concentration is so hyperbolic,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that have virtually nothing, and then a tiny number of people that have a lot. And the funny thing is, as much as I have – I’m incredibly wealthy – I’m nothing. I’m a blip,” the multimillionaire said incredulously.
Why set the five-year limit? “I think there’s a time of action when needs are most urgent,” he said. “Now is the time. If not now, when?”
‘Un-American’
Atwood is a 1992 UVA graduate. He and his wife, Betsy, are raising their family in California. (Contributed photo)
The 1992 graduate, an only child, arrived at UVA in 1988. Both his parents came from “dirt poor rural backgrounds in North Carolina and West Virginia,” he said. The family paid his UVA tuition with a combination of savings, a Pell Grant and the money Atwood earned working as a cashier at Safeway and in the summer for a painting business.
The environmental science major and computer science minor spoke passionately about the Founding Fathers’ influence on him. With his pledge, he said he was “speaking to the principles and ideals” of the Declaration of Independence. “But they got so distorted and misinterpreted by people that just want power and don’t care,” he continued. “Well, I care. And I know the founders cared,” he said. “For all their missteps and mistakes, they cared.”
