Page 3 - Forbes Magazine-October 31, 2018

PAUL ALLEN STEVE BALLMER
($20.3 BIL) ($42.3 BIL)
The Microsoft cofound- The former Microsoft CEO is help-
er’s foundation, Vulcan, fo- ing schools, nonprofits and so-
cuses much of its impact cial service agencies bring their
investing work on Afri- technology up-to-date. In August,
ca. It owns ten solar-pow- Ballmer and his wife, Connie, said
ered micro-grids in Kenya, they would invest $59 million in So-
which provide electricity to cial Solutions, a software compa-
villages with a combined ny that helps organizations digitize
21,000 residents, and funds files and conduct data analytics for
MARTIN SCHOELLER/AUGUST er, Mawingu Networks, also RICK DAHMS Ball mers had tried unsuccessful-
the communities they serve. The
a low-cost internet provid-
ly to tackle the problem with phi-
based in Kenya. Vulcan says
it concentrates on projects
lanthropy, donating money to help
with the potential to impact
Washington State’s child welfare
agency better harness data.
1 million lives or more.
JAMES COULTER
($2.2 BIL)
TPG, the private equity firm he co-
founded, was one of the first such
firms to commit to impact investing.
The Rise Fund, set up in 2016 by TPG
executive Bill McGlashan, Bono and
Jeff Skoll, has raised $2.1 billion for
such investments. The fund, on whose
board Coulter sits, has stakes in 21
companies. Among them: Indian dairy
firm Dodla Dairy, which buys milk from
240,000 farmers, many of whom don’t
have access to refrigeration, and sells
it under the Dodla name. It also has a
stake in digital-payments firm Cellu-
lant, used in 11 African countries.

MARTIN SCHOELLER/AUGUST

JIM BREYER ($2.9 BIL)
JEFF SKOLL
Breyer was an early investor in Etsy, an online mar-
($4.6 BIL) ketplace for arts and crafts that became one of the
first publicly traded B Corps, signifying high social
A principal theme behind Skoll’s im-
and environmental standards. (It gave up that status
pact investing is a bet on compa-
in late 2017 after he was off the board.) “I think my
nies that are working to combat cli-
time with Etsy opened my eyes to the fact that com-
mate change. Aiming to reduce carbon
panies can do well financially and impact the world
emissions, Skoll’s Capricorn Investment
in positive ways,” he says. Lately, he’s been invest-
Group was an early venture investor in
ing in healthcare technologies and platforms such as
electric-car firm Tesla. It’s also backed
mPharma, which gives doctors, patients and phar-
battery company Quantum Scape;
macists in the developing world better access to af-
Joby Aviation, which is pursuing elec-
fordable medications for chronic disease, and Subtle
tric-powered aviation; and Saildrone, MARTIN SCHOELLER/AUGUST
Medical, a radiology AI outfit that is improving the
which has a fleet of small autonomous
quality and speed of medical-imaging exams.
sailing vessels that measure tempera-
tures, salinity and more.