In Praise of Laurene Powell Jobs, Owner of The Atlantic, Superhero of Signalgate

When Laurene Powell Jobs stepped out of the shadow of her late legendary husband Steve Jobs less than a decade ago, she was determined to make her own mark with the vast fortune left to her. She invested broadly in media, most notably in 2017 buying the distinguished magazine of 167 years, The Atlantic. 

Now as the owner of The Atlantic, she is the quiet superhero behind the current Signalgate scandal. Editor Jeffrey Goldberg, who in full disclosure I know well enough to have his email, has rightfully been taking a hero’s tour on media everywhere since he broke the story of having been “accidentally” included in a Signal chat group of the top national security officials talking about an imminent attack on the Houthis, in violation of every imaginable security protocol not to mention common sense. 

Goldberg is being praised, correctly, for his handling of this mess: by exiting the chat when he realized it was legitimate; by putting out the story immediately; by releasing the actual “war plans” on the chat when Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Congress there was nothing classified about it; and by continuing to calmly tell the truth despite being attacked as a “sleazebag” among other insults by President Trump. 

All true, and worthy of praise. And really hard to do.  

But the person who has gone unnoticed and unsung for her role in this is Powell Jobs. At a time when billionaire owners of cherished publications that hold government accountable are caving — The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong most prominently — Powell is standing behind her editor. 

Oddly, though a billionaire, Powell Jobs has not found a reason to kiss Trump’s ring. She did not show up at the inauguration, she did not pledge to change editorial policy to make it friendlier to Trump’s agenda, she did not object to the magazine endorsing Kamala Harris last November.

None of that. She just continues to stand behind the journalism of her publication. 

Need we remind you that the billionaire tech bros — starting with DOGE maniac Elon Musk, but including Meta’s Jeff Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Bezos, Peter Thiel and say-it-aint-so Participant founder Jeff Skoll — have lined up to publicly kiss Trump’s ring. They have shown their willingness to sacrifice the integrity of the media publications they own, when they do. 

Entertainment companies have similarly caved in the face of Trump’s bullying, whether Disney paying $15 million to make a lawsuit against George Stephanopoulos go away, or Shari Redstone’s Paramount Global negotiating against an absurd $20 billion lawsuit against “60 Minutes.” 

Reminder that Amazon MGM studios paid $40 million to produce a documentary on Melania. Can’t wait to see that marketing and PR campaign. 

By contrast, it is the billionaire tech women who have shown steely spines and higher principles. Rather than poison their own legacies by acting to appease a cruel, lying bully, rather than adopting his craven and chaotic policies that favor their wallets, they have stayed silent and continued their work on behalf of a better society.

Their work continues in the service of fighting disease, poverty, promoting social equity and the new “evil”: diversity. Melinda Gates — ex-wife of Bill Gates — is leading through her organization Pivotal Ventures, dedicated “to accelerate the pace of social progress.” The website says: “We’re working to get more power in the hands of more people — especially women.” Mackenzie Scott — ex-wife of Bezos — continues to pour her billions into philanthropic pursuits. She has given away a stunning $19 billion since 2019 to thousands of non-profits, mostly focused on economic security and education.  

Powell Jobs, with an estimated fortune of $15 billion, has poured her passion into Emerson Collective where she has mostly invested in media and something called “philanthrocapitalism,” aiming to achieve social impact through for-profit approaches. (That’s what Skoll used to do at Participant.) 

Goldberg emailed TheWrap when asked about Powell Jobs.

“Laurene is tough, smart, and brave,” he wrote. “There are a lot of people at the publisher and owner levels who aren’t these things — brave, especially. I couldn’t imagine a better steward for The Atlantic. She honors our journalistic integrity and independence, and stands by us in hard times. What else could you possibly ask for?” 

Among her other media investments are Axios Media, podcaster Gimlet Media and a second podcasting company called WaitWhat. For the record she backed convicted fraudster Carlos Watson in his Ozy Media venture in the late 1990s but nobody’s perfect. 

Since buying The Atlantic from David Bradley in 2017, the magazine has experienced a remarkable renaissance after the rough patch of COVID. Goldberg’s Atlantic has become a true rival to The New Yorker in attracting talent and landing deep investigative works. Indeed, as The Washington Post has bled credibility and talent, Goldberg has scooped up one major journalistic hitter after another, from Ashley Parker to Shane Harris to Michael Scherer. 

Late last year the magazine announced that it had surpassed 1 million subscriptions, and achieved profitability (painful to know that it wasn’t before then).

Throughout, we’ve not heard a word from Powell Jobs. It seems that’s how she likes it. She shuns the spotlight, and “doesn’t get involved” in the running of the magazine, according to a knowledgeable individual.

But at moments like this, she deserves our praise and our gratitude. Our democracy needs superheroes like her to make it through.

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