I make a good living. It’s not enough.
I watch actors in the movies. They already have fortunes beyond my wildest dreams. Still, they’re acting for cash. What they have is not enough.
Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Sumner Redstone… these guys are working? Why? Obviously, whatever they’ve got, it’s not enough.
The exception to this universal mindset is Craig Newmark. He is Craig of Craigslist.com.
Craigslist.com is to the worst thing to ever happen to classified advertising… at least that’s how folks in the newspaper business feels. All those lovely little ads selling everything in your daily paper – they’re free on Craigslist¹! It’s tough to compete with free.
“Who needs the money? We don’t really care,” Craig Newmark said in an interview at the Picnic ’06 Cross Media Week conference here.
“If you’re living comfortably, what’s the point of having more?” Newmark said
Craig, you’re killing me. Can’t material wealth be an end unto itself?
Being privately held, no one knows what Craigslist’s revenue is. Even with the few categories that are monetized (a word I’m positive Craig doesn’t use), there’s more than enough cash for its 22 employees. Craig, who could easily be a millionaire many times over, still works on the site.
Seriously speaking, how can you fault him? He is a man of principles who decided not to sell out. There are far too few of those left.
But Craig, you really are giving the rest of us a bad name.
¹ – There are some minor exceptions. Craigslist charges in certain categories in certain cities, but only enough to keep people from listing and relisting to keep atop the pile.