Jeff Atwood is swimming against the tide of his wealthy tech brethren.
Last week the computer programmer, blogger, and entrepreneur pledged to give away half his family’s wealth over the next five years. He plans to put tens of millions of dollars toward “efforts ensuring that all Americans continue to have access to the American Dream.”
Atwood, who grew up with modest means, co-founded the question-and-answer network Stack Exchange, which contains the popular Stack Overflow forum for developers. The site sold in 2021 for $1.8 billion, turning Atwood and dozens of his colleagues into millionaires. He also founded Discourse, an open-source application for building online message boards.
“I lived the American Dream,” Atwood said in an emotional interview. “The American Dream doesn’t end with you getting rich. It ends with you helping everyone else get to where they need to be too,” he said, breaking into tears.
In early January, he published a blog post lamenting historic wealth concentration, low rates of voter participation, and the high costs of education, health care, and housing.
There, he announced his family had recently given $1 million donations to eight nonprofits “working to support those most currently in need.” Recipients include the veterans charity Team Rubicon, Children’s Hunger Fund, PEN America, The Trevor Project, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Planned Parenthood, Global Refuge, and First Generation Investors, which introduces high school students in low-income areas to the fundamentals of investing.
Atwood long admired the Giving Pledge, the nonbinding pledge launched by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet, in which signatories commit to donate the majority of their wealth in their lifetime or through their wills. But he now sees the ultra-rich participants’ pledge as “flawed” for its lack of urgency.
The most recent presidential election “changed the stakes,” he said, prompting his own pledge to move resources more quickly.
Atwood’s philanthropic approach — and attitude — is at odds with many of his peers who made their wealth in technology and whose asset growth often outpaces whatever money they give away.
“I wish more rich people would really stand up and do this,” he said. “Rather than go hide in your underground bunker or plan your trip to Mars, it’s time to take action to lift other people up and work with the community. In times of great need and times of great fear, that’s the time to take action.”
‘It Overwhelms Me’
The timing of Stack Overflow’s 2021 sale was important.
The site is often described as a Wikipedia for programmers. TechCrunch called it “probably one of the most copy-and-pasted sites on the internet.”
But recently, the site has become vulnerable to the rise of generative A.I. As more developers turn to A.I. assistants to get help with coding challenges, the site’s traffic has dipped.
Had the acquisition happened later, Atwood might have much less to give away.
“A big part of it is luck,” he said, tearing up again. He ended up with about 10 percent of the company, and roughly $100 million in cash after tax. “I feel very powerful about that, to the point that it overwhelms me.”
For now, his money managers are working to grow those funds as Atwood firms up his approach to giving tens of millions away.
“I am kind of winging it, which is a lifestyle strategy that I have,” Atwood said.
Influenced by MacKenzie Scott
Atwood is quick to admit he has a lot to learn about philanthropy.
He lives in Alameda, Calif., with his partner, Betsy Burton, and their three kids. Much of their giving has been to groups in his own backyard, like the Alameda Post and the Alameda Food Bank. He gave $1.5 million to the nonprofit tech news site 404 Media.
But with more resources to put toward his giving, he’s looking farther afield. He sees a lot of promise in universal basic income, and has a tentative plan to channel millions into pilot programs in rural U.S. towns.
Atwood said he was encouraged by a recent call with leaders at GiveDirectly, the nonprofit that pioneered direct cash transfers. “If we can do a bunch of UBI experiments in these small rural towns, we could have a really big impact,” he said.
On his blog, he floats other ideas worth supporting, including organizations making it easier for Americans to vote and those that seek to reduce polarization.
He cites MacKenzie Scott as a primary influence and hopes to connect with her as he learns more about effective philanthropy. Echoing Scott’s giving, his no-strings-attached donations to the Trevor Project, Planned Parenthood, and others were surprises for the nonprofit recipients.
“I admire her a lot, and what she’s done, and the fact she’s a great writer like me,” he said.
Atwood has been blogging since 2004, mostly about software, to an audience that largely skews male. In announcing his American Dream pledge publicly, he hopes he can be a positive influence on his readers and peers. “I don’t want it to be performative,” he said. “I want it to be timely and effective, and I want it to be inspiring.”