With a fortune worth $11 billion, Laurene Powell Jobs is Silicon Valley‘s wealthiest woman who has surfaced as a significant behind-the-scenes figure in the 2024 US presidential elections.
Described as “tribally loyal” friend to Kamala, Powell has been an invisible hand behind the rise of Kamala Harris from district attorney to the Democrat presidential candidate.
She has donated millions to a group supporting Harris, according to three sources familiar with the contributions, the New York Times reported.
Additionally, she played a crucial yet discreet role in facilitating Biden’s exit from the race, paving the way for Harris’s candidacy.
Who is Laurene Powell Jobs?
Born in New Jersey, 60-year-old Powell has made notable investments in media, including ownership of The Atlantic and a stake in Axios. In 2017, she purchased a 20% share in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which operates NBA and NHL teams.
She met Steve Jobs in 1989 during a lecture at Stanford Business School, and they married in 1991.
Jobs’ death in 2011, Powell inherited the Steven P Jobs Trust, which held substantial stakes in Apple and Disney. Since then, she has been actively engaged in philanthropy and impact investing.
From attorney to presidential candidate: How Powell remained Kamala’s constant throughout
Powell contributed $500 to Harris’s initial campaign for San Francisco district attorney in 2003.
“She was helpful early on in Kamala’s career,” said Andrea Dew Steele, organizer of a programme attended by the two leaders.
Further, in 2017, Powell agreed to a rare onstage interview at a tech conference where she invited Harris to join her, turning the interview into a two-for-one event, the NYT reported.
When asked if she would run for President, Powell, pointing at Kamala said, “Well, one of us should,” adding, “I vote for her.”
After Biden’s poor performance against Donald Trump in the June debate, Powell voiced her concerns to other prominent Democratic donors about Biden’s electability.
Her top aide, David Simas, a former Obama staffer managing her political research, shared focus-group and polling data with other donors that depicted a bleak outlook. Many donors noted that Simas’s research played a significant role in motivating them to rally against Biden.
