Laurene Powell Jobs: Is there a single family office?

Where does the fortune of Laurene Powell Jobs come from?

As her name suggests, Laurene Powell Jobs was Steve Jobs’ wife until his death in 2011. She inherited the Steven Jobs Trust, which owns a large stake in the Walt Disney Company and 38.5 million shares in Apple. Laurene met Steve Jobs during a lecture at Stanford Business School. Jobs was giving a guest lecture and Laurene Powell snuck up to the front of the room and struck up a conversation with Jobs, who was sitting next to her. They ended up having dinner together that night. A year and a half later, on 18 March 1991, they were married. Today, Powell is listed as one of the richest people in the world, with an estimated net worth of around $12.8 billion, largely because of Steve Jobs’ legacy.

How did the Powell family company develop?

As mentioned above, Laurene Powell didn’t start her own family business, but inherited the legacy of Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc, which consists mainly of shares in Apple Inc. The company is a multinational producer of computer hardware, software and mobile devices. In 2015, it became one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Today, Apple is the most valuable company on the world’s stock markets, with a market capitalisation of US$1.4 trillion.

Is there a Powell family office?

Yes, there is. “The Emerson Collective, named after the transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, was founded in 2004 by Laurene Powell Jobs and operates as an organisation focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media, journalism and health, as well as the personal family office of the Powell family.

How does the Powell family office invest?

Emerson Collective focuses on impact investing, making early-stage venture capital investments in startups working on education, immigration reform, the environment and other social justice initiatives. A recent investment is Guild Education. The company is developing a lifelong learning platform that offers classes, programmes and degrees for working adults, providing them with a path to advance their education and careers.

This article is part of our detailed report “The single family offices of the richest US families“.

Picture source: Medhat Dawoud.

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