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sex trade
Craigslist Employees Will Be Paid to Read Sex Ads All Day
Under pressure from state officials after a Boston medical student reportedly killed a masseuse he met on Craigslist, the classifieds site is cancelling its racy "Erotic Services" section with a new one reviewed by employees. More » -
rants
Oh, Sure, Like Anyone's Going to Boycott Craigslist
Troubled by reports that accused murderer Philip Markoff found his alleged prey through Craigslist, a do-gooder has called for a boycott of the classifieds site. 61 out of a hoped-for 500,000 have signed up. More » -
crime
Craig Newmark to Speak at Tribute to Craigslist Victim
What on earth will Craigslist founder Craig Newmark say at a memorial service for Katherine Olson, the 24-year-old Minneapolis woman shot by a killer who found her using a Craigslist ad? More » -
san francisco chronicle
Who Would Fund America's Largest Nonprofit Newspaper?
San Francisco Chronicle journalists are trying to talk investors into buying the foundering daily newspaper and restructuring it as a nonprofit, writes the SF Appeal. Who are the ink-stained wretches courting? More » -
craig newmark
Craigslist founder uses ink and paper to find glasses
Craig Newmark, the hypernerdy classifieds-site operator who's destroying the newspaper industry, has found the limits of Craigslist. After repeated appeals online, he's taken to looking for a pair of lost glasses using old media. -
blogging for dollars
Even conservatives are tired of Fox hogging the debates
Normally if I saw Arianna Huffington, Craig Newmark and Markos Moulitsas coauthoring a statement, I'd click my Back button and Move On, as they say. But Instapundit editor Glenn Reynolds has joined the mostly leftospheric collection of bloggers who've dubbed themselves the Open Debate Coalition. They want two things, which I've helpfully edited down to 10 words each: More » -
jackpot
Craigslist's "nerd values" don't include $16 million payday from eBay
We need more gushy "Internet rich dudes, they're just like us!" star profiles, don't we? The problem is, in the Valley, too few are willing to flaunt their success. Take this piece of fiction about Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's CEO, in the Times of London: "He lives in a modest, rented apartment not far from the company’s global headquarters, a rickety 19th century house tucked between a pizza restaurant and a junk shop in San Francisco." If a "modest apartment" is a freestanding house — a rarity in San Francisco — which can accommodate 40 people for Thanksgiving, then sure. The article also repeats an old canard about how Newmark doesn't have a place to park his car — when he's had parking behind the house he owns for years. More » -
Jesse Draper
Tim Draper's daughter puts daddy's friends on the hot pink seat
Don't look now — really, don't. Top venture capitalist Tim Draper's daughter, Jesse Draper, has already released eight episodes of her Web video show, "The Valley Girl." Jesse is a screen star, best known in the tween set for "The Naked Brothers Band," but somehow we think her dad had more to do with the guests she's pulled in, who include Draper himself; Draper's partner Steve Jurvetson; VC and SkinnySongs founder Heidi Roizen; Glam Media's Samir Arora; and Sun chairman Scott McNealy. McNealy, a native of Detroit, was asked the hard-hitting question, "What does Silicon Valley mean to you?" His reply: "Great weather." In today's episode, Jesse interviews former AOL CEO Barry Schuler. We were surprised the man still goes out in public. For a proper introduction to the show, however, you're better off with episode seven. In it, Jesse asks Craigslist founder Craig Newmark: "Do you consider customer service one of the most important things?" From somewhere deep within, Newmark manages to answer this difficult query. More » -
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great moments in pr
At DNC, Google beckons bloggers with happy endings
Have you heard about Google's "Big Tent," the $100 luxury newsroom Google has set up for bloggers at the Democratic National Convention? If not, here's another story on the Internet where reporters go, Oh man, Google is totes on the pulse, giving all the intrepid young blogger kids at the Democratic National Convention this week a safe place to get massaged for free by ladies and plug in their 'iPones" — read the label — while they change the world together! More » -
caption contest
With nerds and Twitter behind me I will rule the world
From right to left, Sutter Hill Ventures's Greg Sands, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, Barack Obama, Pincus's new wife Alison Gelb Pincus, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and "the girlfriend," Eileen Whelply. We know you can do better, so crack wise in the comments and we'll make the best one the new title. Friday's winner was sample032 for "Who killed my electric car?" (And not just because he showed up to the happy hour in Mountain View.) (Photo by Steve Jurvetson) -
sex trade
Ballot measure to promote Internet over jail for San Francisco prostitutes
An addition to the Barackathon at the San Francisco ballot box this November: a measure to decriminalize prostitution among consenting adults. City officials are already complaining it will hinder their efforts to prosecute related crimes, or that its passage will be "a welcome mat for prostitutes and pimps to come and hang out in San Francisco." Such talk conjures images of throngs of pimps 'n' hos crowding SF sidewalks. But most prostitution is now hidden indoors, and marketed on the Internet, as a member of the organization sponsoring the vote, the Erotic Service Providers Union, explained to local CBS news reporters. (I don't expect anyone from Craigslist to weigh in on the topic, but the site links to ESPU atop its Erotic Services section — making Craig Newmark a very low-key sugar daddy.) -
politics
Triple threat Craig Newmark auditions for role as "Obama Boy"
At the Personal Democracy Forum last week, Barely Political sent correspondent Amber Lee "Obama Girl" Ettinger to ask attendees what they though about technology's role in politics or something. Hobbyist pundit Craig Newmark, however, took the opportunity to show off some of his dance moves in a self-deprecating but probably less than insincere attempt to be Obama Boy. Newmark, however, will have to get in line — Obama's campaign has inspired more bromantic overtures than yesterday's pride parades. -
craigslist
Would an in-house attorney keep Craigslist in line?
Hookers and eBay, shares and cops. If Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster, had an attorney on staff with them, would that have prevented questionable legal moves by the founder and CEO of the world's most reliable housemates and hookups platform? More » -
hires
Jeremy Zawodny left Yahoo for Craigslist
While former Yahoo database engineer Jeremy Zawodny might prefer FriendFeed to Twitter, he'll be commuting to the offices of Craigslist from his home in San Jose. He was recruited via email by CTO Eric Scheide while still at Yahoo, and met with founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster before leaving Sunnyvale for the Inner Sunset. He'll help maintain and expand the company's ever-growing MySQL database. Because the last thing someone trying to sell a baby needs is for a PHP mysql_fetch_array() call to fail when posting their ad. (Photo by David Weekly) -
sex trade
Craigslist the "training wheels" of the online sex industry
"Free, popular and easy to use," says the Riverfront Times, Craigslist is "as close as America currently comes to the decriminalization of sex work." As part of an investigation into Internet prostitution, the St. Louis alt-weekly newspaper got on the same page with women in the trade who run client/escort message boards. Along with doing the usual decoding of acronyms (GFE, anyone?) and explaining what you get for $300 an hour, they got an earful from sex workers about where to get your start as an online escort. Valleywag readers won't need to even guess. More » -
nerdfight
Craigslist whines like a toddler in countersuit against eBay
Craigslist has filed suit against eBay in San Francisco County Superior Court, alleging trademark infringement, breach of fiduciary duty, anti-competitve trade practices and deceptive advertising. Why California? Because the state has some of the strictest antitrust and competition trade laws in the country. Craigslist is asking the court to award damages and force eBay to divest from the online classifieds site. Also alleged? That eBay was a big meanie. The best parts: More » -
geek love
Craig Newmark angles to take Phil Bronstein's livelihood, woman
At the party for Jonathan Zittrain's new book, The Future of the Internet and How to Stop it, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark couldn't settle for destroying San Francisco Chronicle editor-at-large Phil Bronstein's profession — he may be after Bronstein's woman, too:Craig told my wife she was out of my league. I know that! This is the guy who destroyed newspapers? Master of the obvious. But he's come a long way himself from the days when he was his own best browser in the Craigslist "Missed Connections" section.
(Photo by AP/Benjamin Sklar) -
caption contest
You mean this isn't the Facebook prom?
Despite not making the cut for this year's Time 100, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales showed up at the magazine's party anyway. (Past honorees are reinvited to the party automatically.) Even more surprising: On his arm was Andrea Weckerle, the freelance public-relations professional long rumored to have been smitten with Wales. If this photo is an indication, her affections are less unrequited than has been said. More » -
party report
The future of Jonathan Zittrain (and how to stop it)
Really, I wasn't trying to be posh for the book party Arianna Huffington threw Saturday for Oxford scholar Jonathan Zittrain and his new book, The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It." I pulled up to Larry Ellison's Pacific Heights manse in a black Town Car because that's the only vehicle I was able to flag down in North Beach. Huffington, the pundit turned blog mogul, greeted me at the door and extracted a promise of my best behavior before allowing me in. (One wonders what these people think my worst behavior might be, and if they realize how tempting living down to their expectations is.) More » -
separated at net worth
Is Craig Newmark a Leninist, or just a lookalike? Don't ask a newspaper man
In the wake of eBay's suit against Craiglist, we get a touch more fear and loathing from a newspaper about the online classifieds site and local bulletin board from the Times:[Craigslist] is also a site that is deeply tied up with the fate of newspapers — indeed, many in the newspaper industry blame the site's founder, Craig Newmark, for the downturn in their classified-advertising business.
The Times pegs the company's revenue at $80 million to $100 million annually — a lowball estimate, from what we hear — and gets founder and chairman Newmark to admit he's never donated more than $20,000 to any particular cause. But it's the kicker that makes on wonder how enthusiastic a capitalist Newmark is. "We know these guys in Google and the eBay guys, and they are not any happier than anyone else," says Newmark. "A lot of money is a burden." $10 million, his estimated take from a deal with eBay to let them buy shares in Craigslist, must not be enough for Newmark to feel burdened. Give it away, Craig — you have nothing to lose but your chains! Not to mention the Times photo, in full below, which made me wonder whether Newmark and Lenin were separated at birth. More » -
jim buckmaster
Responding to eBay, Craigslist CEO digs hole deeper
Jim Buckmaster has just set himself up for a messy court fight. Responding to eBay's lawsuit against Craigslist and its board — the board being Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark — he has claimed that he and Newmark issued additional shares in the company to themselves "for the sake of protecting the long term well-being of the Craigslist community." Let's leave aside the question of how the community benefits from Buckmaster and Newmark increasing their ownership. Craigslist is registered as a for-profit company; as such, its only legal responsibility is to its shareholders, not its users. More » -
craigslist
Why Craig Newmark had better not piss off Jim Buckmaster
eBay's lawsuit against Craigslist, alleging that founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster conspired to squeeze eBay out of the company, is fascinating for many reasons. It reveals Buckmaster and Newmark's naked greed: They issued shares of the company to themselves to increase their stakes and decrease eBay's.But it also shows how tight the two have been with Craigslist's workers. eBay owns, or owned 28.4 percent of the company, a stake acquired from early Craigslist employee Philip Knowlton. Knowlton sold his shares in part because Buckmaster and Newmark were trying to squeeze him out, too. (Are you beginning to see a pattern?) The two, acting as Craigslist's board of directors, issued themselves one new share for every five they already owned, a move which pushed eBay's ownership stake down to 24.85 percent — a level which, among other things, eliminated eBay's ability to elect a director for the company. Do the math, and it becomes clear that Craigslist's other shareholders — presumably its employees — own about 3.3 percent of the company. That's a miserably small portion of equity to give employees of a tech startup; normally, about 20 percent of a company's equity is reserved for employees. More » -
feuds
Details of eBay's complaint against Craigslist revealed
The text of eBay's complaint filed in a Delaware court [PDF] has made its way online, and in it, eBay "seeks equitable and legal relief" from Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark for:[B]reaching their fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and good faith by implementing certain self-dealing transactions challenged herein which were designed specifically to benefit themselves to the detriment of eBay.
Allegedly Buckmaster and Newmark attempted to issue themselves new shares in order to keep more of the profits to themselves, instead of sharing the 28.4 percent eBay can demand for their stake in the company, as Valleywag predicted. After the jump, the blow-by-blow account as detailed by the Wall Street Journal. More » -
caption contest
Craig Newmark offers toddler a surprise
On tour in Israel, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark presents a young admirer with a gift. Got a better headline? Leave it in the comments. -
lawsuits
eBay sues Craig Newmark as Craigslist tries to squeeze it out
Expect a rash of headlines accusing auction giant eBay of bullying saintly Craig Newmark. eBay has sued Newmark, his business partner Jim Buckmaster, and Craigslist. The charge? Craigslist has allegedly diluted eBay's 28.4 percent stake in the company, which the auction giant acquired from a former Craigslist employee. The part of the story Newmark and Buckmaster don't want anyone to hear: The pair made about $16 million in the process of letting eBay buy the stake in their company. The deal included a shareholder-rights agreement which ought to prevent Craigslist from diluting eBay's stake in the company, people familiar with the deal have told Valleywag. By squeezing out eBay, Newmark and Buckmaster appear to be having their cake and eating it too. Relations between the companies had already deteriorated: eBay had a seat on the Craigslist board, at one point occupied by founder Pierre Omidyar, until last year. More » -
we read twitter so you don't have to
"Unmitigated horror" sounds about right to me
Craig's List founder Craig Newmark is in Israel for a conference and his roomate is Robert Scoble. What happens when you room with the Scobleizer? He convinces you to sign up for Twitter. [Twitter] -
jackpot
Is Craigslist worth $5 billion?
Disgraced stock analyst Henry Blodget pauses to dream up a fantasy valuation for Craigslist, and comes up with $5 billion. The numbers he relies on are faulty, starting with Craigslist's revenues. Blodget relies on a recent report by Classified Intelligence, which pegs its revenues for 2008 at an estimated $81 million. That's extremely low; insiders tell me the real figure for last year was in the range of $100 million to $150 million. More » -
poll
Rerank the geeks on the 100 Unsexiest Men list
Yahoo's new site for women, Shine, began life with a link to The Phoenix's 100 Unsexiest Men of The Year. OK, fine, we clicked. But then we were astounded to find the list contained only 4 percent geek. Further, the unattractiveness of those who made the list, such Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, was, frankly, insultingly underrated. Also, the whole list was out of order. Below, a poll where you can help us rerank both the geeks already on the list, and those who should have made it. Rachel Marsden, your assistance in this matter would be appreciated. More » -
craigslist
Selling babies, raiding homes — the people of Oregon hate Craig Newmark
What do the people of Oregon have against Craiglist founder Craig Newmark? Start with Robert Salisbury, of Jacksonville, Oregon. The other day, Salisbury came home to find 30 people going through his stuff and walking away with whatever they wanted. Salisbury tried to protest, but the grubbers just brushed him off. One finally handed him an advertisement printed off Craigslist. It listed Salisbury's address and said all his belongings were up for grabs. More » -
clips
Craig Newmark admits he let eBay buy its Craigslist stake
Saintly Craig Newmark, whose Craigslist website is a friend to the apartmentless and lovelorn, has a confession to make: As we reported last year, his company helped broker eBay's purchase of a 25 percent stake in Craigslist — a transaction which made him millions of dollars. Newmark made this admission to Sarah Lacy in a Yahoo Tech Ticker interview, excerpted above. This is notable only because Newmark has long peddled the line to gullible journalists that eBay bought the stake out from under his nose without his consent, casting aspersions on the ex-employee who sold the stake along the way. Note how he dodges the key question — did he profit from the sale? According to Valleywag's sources, he did. But we'll give Newmark a pass on coughing up that fact until the next interview. -
caption contest
Craig Newmark doesn't care about indie coffeeshops
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark supports multinational coffee chain's outlet at 4th and King. (Photo by glovercom) -
david anderson
Does your VC have a Democrat in his pocket?
Senator Clinton polls higher than Senator Obama in Santa Clara County, 43 percent to 27 percent, a Clinton campaign staffer told the Wall Street Journal. But we know what really counts in Silicon Valley: money. And when it comes to raising cash, Barack Obama's winning over the tech crowd. He raised about $500,000 just last weekend at a breakfast in Atherton. Wondering who was there? Here's a list of known Silicon Valley supporters for each candidate. More » -
media
Craig Newmark buys UC-Berkeley a professor
Stealing classified-ad revenues from big media was far too easy. Craigslist has found a challenge that its ample pockets are up to: corrupting the minds of future journalists. It has given $1.6 million to UC-Berkeley's Center for New Media, which works with departments ranging from engineering to journalism to determine the extent of the Internet's effect on our lives, to create an endowed faculty chair. More » -
newspapers
Craigslist Atones
It's one of the great ironies. Craig Newmark and his colleagues at Craigslist are left-wing idealists who still believe in the responsibility of the press to speak truth to power. All the while, their online classifieds site, which is largely free, has undermined the economics of newspapers, and the anti-establishment alt weeklies above all. The company's decision to endow a faculty chair in new media studies at the University of California, Berkeley is a sweet gesture. (As is the support of the endearingly naive Craigslist boss for online news ventures such as Daylife.) But let's be clear: this is akin to the creation of a reservation for American Indians; it doesn't erase the stain of genocide. -
craig newmark
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark discusses 12-year-old Craigslist's past and future in an interview. He never specifically addresses how he got millions of dollars from eBay in a side deal when it acquired a stake in his company. He does have this to say on how he runs Craigslist: "There's nothing noble or altruistic or pious about this; it just feels right." [Computerworld] -
clips
Stephen Colbert thanks Craig Newmark for killing the American newspaper
The rote nonanswers Craigslist founder Craig Newmark gives in interviews are normally snooze-provoking. But Stephen Colbert makes them hilarious. When Newmark humbly claims he sees no reason to make more money with his comfortable lifestyle, Colbert replies, "to rub it in someone's face." Colbert also plugs Newmark's latest attempt to change the world, the DonorsChoose charity, because of a program which submits donations in the name of presidential candidates. Who's leading? That's right, Stephen Colbert, master of the plug. -
craigslist
The Freakonomics blog had their readership submit questions for Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster. The answers are unfulfilling. Disappointing that they didn't select our question: just how much money did you make when eBay took a stake in your company? [Freakonomics] -
craigslist
Ask Craig Newmark anything you want!
The Freakonomics blog is inviting readers to pose questions for Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster to be asked in an upcoming Q&A. The blog's readers have already started to make pointed suggestions, but none has stepped forward to ask this question: Exactly how much money did Newmark and Buckmaster make when eBay took a stake in their company? -
silicon valley
Birthplaces of the rich and Webby
Before the Googleplex there was a garage. Prior to Marck Zuckerberg's hip Facebook HQ, he had a dorm room. Second Life got its start in a small warehouse - now turned Moroccan furniture store — found in Linden Alley. And Craigslist? That's still basically run out of a house. Business 2.0 chief of reporters Yi-Wyn Yen goes on a photographic tour of Web startup birthplaces. If you need motivation to jump on the giant Web 2.0 bubble, check it out. And work on your coding. -
rumormonger
Has Craig Newmark quit Craigslist?
A fascinating tidbit buried in a story about Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin's allegations of child prostitution on Craigslist: Susan MacTavish Best, Craigslist spokeswoman and girlfriend of CEO Jim Buckmaster, claims that Craig Newmark "is no longer involved in the company's daily affairs," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And indeed, Newmark, the company's founder, though he was listed on the Craigslist management page a week ago, no longer appears there. Newmark has certainly made enough money, thanks to a 2004 stock purchase by eBay, to retire on. And his "team bio," still online, notes that he's "embarrassed" that the site is named after him. But for the geeks who still idolize him, the idea of a Craigslist without Craig would be hard to bear. Update: We heard from Newmark. His comments, after the jump.




























