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Jeff Skoll Biography

Birth Name:Jeffrey Skoll

Birth Place:Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Profession Producer

Fast Facts

  • Honored by government officials in 2011 when he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his various philanthropic efforts
  • Joined AMPAS in 2008
  • Has funded various social activism sites and organizations including www․takepart․com and The Gandhi Project
  • Established the Skoll Foundation in 1999, a non-profit that connects social entrepreneurs and innovators
  • Graduated from the University of Toronto with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1987 and later studied at Stanford for his master's certificate
  • After graduating college, he worked as an engineer for several years before meeting eBay's founder Pierre Omidyar in 1996 who would eventually hire Skoll as the company's first full-time employee
  • Established Participant Media in 2004 after gaining considerable wealth from his eBay venture, an L․A․ based studio that would go on to produce multiple Oscar-winning films including "Syriana", "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Lincoln", among others
  • Served as the first-ever President of eBay before Meg Whitman took over in 1998
  • Cashed out his initial stocks at eBay that earned him around $2 billion

Awards

  • 2008Christopher Award-Feature Films: winner
  • 2009IDA Award-Feature Documentary: nominated
  • 2009Pare Lorentz Award-: nominated
  • 2010Primetime Emmy-Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking: nominated
  • 2011Emmy-Best Documentary: winner
  • 2011Emmy-Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form: winner
  • 2012Christopher Award-Feature Films: winner
  • 2013Christopher Award-Feature Films: winner
  • 2013IDA Award-Best Feature: winner
  • 2013Humanitas Award-: nominated
  • 2015Emmy-Outstanding Historical Programming - Long Form: nominated
  • 2016Emmy-Outstanding Coverage of a Current News Story - Long Form: nominated
  • 2017Emmy-Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary: nominated
  • 2018Christopher Award-Feature Films: winner
  • 2018Emmy-Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary: nominated
  • 2019Black Reel-Outstanding TV Movie/Limited Series: winner
  • 2019Gotham Independent Film Award-Breakthrough Series - Longform: winner
  • 2019Emmy-Outstanding Social Issue Documentary: nominated
  • 2019Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Limited Series: nominated
  • 2020PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television: nominated
  • 2021Audience Award-Narrative Feature: winner
  • 2021Independent Spirit Award-Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series: nominated
  • 2021Gotham Independent Film Award-Breakthrough Nonfiction Series: nominated
  • 2021IDA Award-Best Multi-Part Documentary: nominated
  • 2021Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded): nominated
  • 2022IDA Award-Best Multi-Part Documentary: nominated
  • 2025Television Academy Honors-TV Movie: winner