“Woke” or Not, Philanthropy Is a Great Deal for Big Tech
Big tech’s woke era may be over for now. But wealthy elites like Mark Zuckerberg will continue to find philanthropic giving a preferred way to control their wealth and expand their influence, no matter what causes their money goes to.

Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, on September 10, 2024. (David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Rewind to 2016. Tech is coming off a two-year financing high marked by record-breaking private funding rounds, an explosion of unicorn start-ups, and an unprecedented wave of megadeals. Perched on top is Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, whose personal fortune will grow this year by $11.2 billion, more than any other billionaire’s.
Meanwhile, a type of social justice politics that will eventually be derided as “wokeness” is ascendant. We’re sandwiched between #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign is criticizing Bernie Sanders as myopically fixated on economic inequality while neglecting race and gender concerns. As Sanders raises the alarm about billionaires’ ballooning wealth and political influence, Clinton is cultivating close relationships with Silicon Valley elites, who are succeeding on the identity politics front where Sanders is reportedly failing.
This year, 2016, Apple is throwing money into historically black colleges and universities, while Uber is donating directly to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Google has announced $3.5 million in diversity-focused grants at a screening of a documentary about the murder of an unarmed black man at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco’s historic gay district.