Laurene Powell Jobs facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Laurene Powell Jobs
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![]() Powell Jobs in 2012
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Born |
Laurene Powell
November 6, 1963 West Milford, New Jersey, U.S.
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Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA, BS) Stanford University (MBA) |
Spouse(s) | |
Children | 3, including Reed and Eve |
Relatives | Mona Simpson (sister-in-law) |
Laurene Powell Jobs (born November 6, 1963) is an American businesswoman and generous giver. She is known as the wife of Steve Jobs, who helped start Apple Inc.. After he passed away, she took care of the Steve Jobs Trust.
Laurene Powell Jobs also started two important groups: Emerson Collective and XQ Institute. These groups work on improving education and helping people in different ways. She also gives a lot of money to politicians from the Democratic Party.
Contents
Laurene Powell Jobs's Early Life and Education
Laurene Powell Jobs grew up in West Milford, New Jersey. She went to the University of Pennsylvania. In 1985, she earned two degrees there. One was in political science and the other in economics.
Later, in 1991, she earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. She got this from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Starting Her Career Journey
Before going to business school, Laurene Powell Jobs worked at Merrill Lynch. She also spent three years at Goldman Sachs. There, she worked as a strategist, helping with financial trading.
She also helped start a company called Terravera. This company sold natural foods to stores in Northern California. She was also on the board of directors for Achieva. This company made online tools to help students get ready for important tests.
After Steve Jobs's Passing

On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, passed away. He was 56 years old. Laurene Powell Jobs inherited the Steven P. Jobs Trust.
This trust included a large share in The Walt Disney Company. It also had many shares of Apple Inc. This made her one of the wealthiest women in the technology world.
As of July 2020, she and her family were among the richest people globally. Forbes magazine ranked her as one of the world's billionaires.
Her Work and Helping Others
In 1997, Laurene Powell Jobs helped start College Track. This organization helps students get into and finish college.
Founding Emerson Collective
In 2004, Powell Jobs started the Emerson Collective. This is a special company that helps social entrepreneurs. These are people who start businesses to solve social problems.
Emerson Collective supports groups working on education and immigration. They also help with social justice, media, and conservation. Through this group, Powell Jobs owns The Atlantic magazine. She also has a share in Axios, a news website.
Investing in Sports Teams
In 2017, Powell Jobs bought a part of Monumental Sports & Entertainment. This group owns several famous sports teams. These include the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals. They also own the Capital One Arena.
Supporting New Cities
As of 2023, she is an investor in California Forever. This company is working to build a new, planned city. It will be a sustainable city in Solano County, California.
Helping Communities Through Giving
Laurene Powell Jobs is well-known for her philanthropy. This means she gives a lot of money and time to help others.
College Track's Mission
In 1997, she co-founded College Track with Carlos Watson. This non-profit group is in East Palo Alto, California. Its goal is to help students from underserved communities. They work to improve high school graduation rates. They also help students get into and finish college.
About 90 percent of College Track's high school graduates go to four-year colleges. Many of these students are the first in their families to attend college. About 70 percent finish college in six years. This is much higher than the national average for first-generation college students.
College Track has centers in many cities. These include East Palo Alto, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Watts, Boyle Heights, New Orleans, Aurora, Colorado, Denver, and the Washington, D.C. area.
XQ: The Super School Project
In September 2015, Powell Jobs started a big project called XQ: The Super School Project. She put $50 million into this project. Its aim is to create new kinds of high schools.
The project encourages educators, students, and community leaders. They work together to create new plans for high schools. This includes changing school schedules, what students learn, and how technology is used. The goal is to update the old high school education model.
XQ later gave another $50 million. They awarded ten schools $10 million each. These schools were chosen from about 700 applications across the country.
Other Board Memberships
Powell Jobs is also a founding member of the Climate Leadership Council. As of 2018, she serves on several important boards. These include College Track, Conservation International, and Stanford University. She is also the chair of the board for XQ. In 2023, Forbes magazine listed her as one of the most powerful women in the world.
Her Family Life
In October 1989, Steve Jobs gave a talk at Stanford Business School. Laurene Powell was a student there and started talking to him. They had dinner together that night.
About a year and a half later, on March 18, 1991, they got married. They had a traditional Buddhist wedding ceremony. It took place at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. A Zen Buddhist monk led the ceremony.
Laurene Powell Jobs lives in Palo Alto, California. She and Steve Jobs had three children together. Their son, Reed, was born in September 1991. Their daughters are Erin (born 1995) and Eve (born 1998). Laurene is also the stepmother of Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Steve's daughter from an earlier relationship.
Honours
See also
In Spanish: Laurene Powell Jobs para niños