Overview: Moskovitz is one of the youngest, richest and most generous Democratic donors in Silicon Valley. One of the co-founders of Facebook who is now running his own software company, Moskovitz is eager to convert his wealth into philanthropy through his Good Ventures Foundation.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Total Donated (2016-2020): $25,817,250
Top Recipients: Priorities USA Action, Future Forward USA PAC, Senate Majority PAC
Key Issues: Anti-Poverty, Democratic Party power
Largest Donation to Date: $2.5 million to Priorities USA Action
Profile: Thanks to having a birthday one week after Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz was at one point the world’s youngest billionaire. Moskovitz still holds an estimated 2% of Facebook shares, but he left the company in 2008 to start the software company Asana. All the tech success shot Moskovitz’s net worth up to about $17 billion, putting him among the 50 richest people in the world. Moskovitz has pledged to get rid of his money almost as quickly as he got it: He’s already a signatory to the Giving Pledge, a commitment by the ultra-wealthy to give away most of their money by the end of their lives. Moskovitz channels most of his philanthropy through the foundation he started with his wife, Cari Tuna. Their Good Ventures Foundation made headlines for its targeted, research-based approach to selecting grantees, and the organization focuses on anti-poverty and social welfare initiatives. Finding their approach to philanthropy was similar to that of another organization, GiveWell, Moskovitz and Tuna joined their foundation with GiveWell to form Open Philanthropy. Tuna serves as president of Good Ventures and both she and Moskovitz are on the board of Open Philanthropy.
Moskovitz’s political giving increased dramatically in the Trump era. Donor records show Moskovitz rarely donates to candidates directly, opting instead to make large gifts to liberal PACs and funds. After giving about $10,000 to politics during his lifetime, Moskovitz in 2016 pledged $20 million to help Democrats. He gave millions to Priorities USA Action, a Hillary Clinton-supporting PAC, and millions more to PACs like LCV Victory Fund and Senate Majority PAC. In the 2020 cycle, Moskovitz shifted his donations to Future Forward USA PAC, giving $22 million and working closely with their leadership to help fund anti-Trump ads in the final weeks of the election.
Ideological Vibe: Solidly liberal. Donor records show Moskovitz gives exclusively to Democrats and his biggest checks go to party establishment funds. His non-political philanthropy focuses on standard liberal social welfare initiatives and he doesn’t get involved in many ballot measure fights.
Hits and Misses: Moskovitz’s biggest loss is undoubtedly 2016—when he gave millions to help the Democrats take the White House and Congress only to see them to fall short. He continued cutting large checks to the Democrats in the following years, but he doesn’t give directly to many candidates or issue-based campaigns.
Looking Forward: Moskovitz’s recent eruption in political giving was part of an effort to resist Trump and ultra-conservative Republicans. It’s unclear whether Moskovitz will remain motivated to give to Democrats beyond 2020, but we should expect him to continue funding anti-poverty work.
Relationships: Asana—founder and CEO; Good Ventures Foundation—founder; Open Philanthropy—board member
Contact Information: N/A