Jeffrey Skoll — Participant Media

Founder

THE LATEST: Participant Media, which has a history of producing socially relevant films that appeal to audiences as well as awards voters, earned six Oscar nominations this year for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” The company also received two Academy Award nominations for “Collective.” In addition, Participant launched several political and issue-related campaigns in 2020, including supporting domestic workers amid the pandemic and fighting the practice of gerrymandering. Skoll also gifted $100 million to his nonprofit, the Skoll Foundation, to fund Covid-19 testing, contact tracing and respiratory devices for low- and middle-income countries. In October, Participant Media exited its role as equity holder of Amblin Partners.
BACKGROUND: Participant Media, the film company Skoll founded in 2004, has produced Academy Award winners such as “Spotlight” and “An Inconvenient Truth.” Skoll ranked No. 17 on the Business Journal’s most recent list of Wealthiest Angelenos with a net worth of $4.6 billion. He was the first president of eBay Inc., where he helped lead the company’s initial public offering and the creation of the eBay Foundation. He started the Skoll Foundation in 1999 and created the Capricorn Investment Group and Skoll Global Threats Fund. Skoll holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
YEARS ON THE LA500: 6
Return to the 2021 edition of the LA500.