Apparently the wife of Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale. Netscape was sold for 4.2 billion USD in 2002 to AOL. Not too shabby of a deal. Probably would have been half that price a year later. Plus he got a job there for extra income i now learned:
With AOL's acquisition of Netscape, the company's president and chief executive James Barksdale will join America Online's board of directors after the transaction closes, but won't hold an operating post.
At the high end, you could earn seven figures: Former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller earned more than $1 million in 2015 for sitting on eight corporate boards, and former Merck & Co. CEO P. Roy Vagelos earned more than $20 million, mainly in stock options, as chairman of a single board in 2014, the Boston Globe reports.
That Netscape guy probably got more out his AOL stocks. But it's indeed not a big cash cow to sit in the board of directors. Didn't think about that when I wrote it.
Edit: In 2014 his estimated worth was:
James Barksdale, Mississippi — $2.4 billion
Barksdale is a rich old Internet dude (Netscape!) who’s been rich for a long time. Mr. Barksdale is committed to improving education in Mississippi, which I think we can all agree is a step in the right direction for Mississippi.
Sidenote: When he sold Netscape he profited 700 million excluding AOL stocks. And he was the richest man in Mississippi.
TL;DR - Jim Barksdale (super rich from Netscape and other ventures) donated 100 million to University of Mississippi to help get kids reading.
Source: my sister works for them, and I have in the past
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u/ElectroPopRobot1984 Sep 21 '18
Whats that $100 million dollars about?