# Eric & Wendy Schmidt Operating Foundation ## Basic Info **Name:** Eric & Wendy Schmidt Operating Foundation **What is it:** Network of philanthropic, nonprofit, for-profit, and policy entities controlled by Eric and Wendy Schmidt **Location:** Palo Alto, CA (fund); New York (Schmidt Futures/SCSP) **Link:** **Who is involved:** [[Eric Schmidt]] (former Google CEO 2001–2011, Alphabet chairman 2015–2017; est. net worth ~$54.5B as of 2025), [[Wendy Schmidt]] (journalist, president of the family foundation, co-founder of most entities) --- ## Entries ### The ecosystem The Schmidt philanthropic apparatus is unusual. The Schmidts instead built an interlocking network of major entities, each with a different legal form, tax status and operational mandate. The effect is a system that can simultaneously fund basic science, run oceanographic expeditions, place fellows inside government agencies, invest in AI startups, and lobby for defense-tech integration. ### The entities - **Schmidt Family Foundation** (2006). The original vehicle. Private foundation focused on environment, energy, food systems, oceans. Operates two programs: - the **11th Hour Project** (clean energy, food, human rights) and - **Schmidt Marine Technology Partners** (ocean tech). - **Schmidt Ocean Institute** (2009). 501(c)(3) operating foundation. Runs the research vessel _R/V Falkor (too)_ (110m, launched 2023, replacing the original _Falkor_), offered at no cost to scientists in exchange for open data. The original _Falkor_ was a converted German fisheries vessel; $94M was spent on its refit. Over 1,100 scientists hosted, 50+ new species discovered. The _Falkor (too)_ has 8 labs, a 150-ton crane, and a 4,500m-depth ROV. In March 2025, its ROV captured the [first-ever footage of a live colossal squid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzPoG9H8Hlo). - **Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation** (2014). 501(c)(3) private foundation, ~$1.6B in assets. Invitation-only grantmaking. Functions as the financial backbone of the network, channeling funds to Schmidt Futures, SCSP, and other entities. - **[[Schmidt Futures]]** (2017). Operated by Futures Action Network LLC (Delaware). Self-described as betting "early on exceptional people making the world better." Funds fellowships, research, and policy initiatives across science, AI, talent development, and government innovation. Key programs include: - **Rise** (with Rhodes Trust — $1B commitment to identify talented 15–17-year-olds globally, 100 winners/year); - **Schmidt Science Fellows** (postdoctoral program); - **International Strategy Forum** (emerging geopolitics leaders); - **AI2050** ($125M, five-year commitment on beneficial AI); - **Plaintext Group** (tech policy research). - Also funded the **Families and Workers Fund** (co-chaired with Ford Foundation); - And placed fellows inside U.S. government agencies through the [[Federation of American Scientists (FAS)]]' Day One Project. - **[[Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP)]]** (2021). Nonprofit think tank focused on U.S. technological competitiveness vis-à-vis China. Founded by Eric Schmidt after the dissolution of the National Security Commission on AI (NSCAI), which he had chaired (2018–2021). Much of NSCAI's staff moved directly to SCSP. - **Schmidt Sciences** (2024). Nonprofit founded to "advance science and technology that deepens human understanding of the natural world", Five centers: AI & Advanced Computing, Astrophysics & Space, Biosciences, Climate, Science Systems. ### The for-profit side The philanthropic network operates alongside Eric Schmidt's commercial portfolio. - **Innovation Endeavors** (2010, co-founded with Dror Berman) is an early-stage VC fund that has invested in 22+ AI firms since 2019. - In March 2025, he took over as CEO of **Relativity Space**, an aerospace manufacturing company. - He also chairs the board of **Sandbox AQ** (AI solutions, spun off from Alphabet in 2022). ### The influence question The Schmidt ecosystem has drawn sustained investigative scrutiny, particularly from the [Tech Transparency Project](https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/eric-schmidts-expanding-influence-apparatus) for the overlap between Schmidt's policy advocacy and his private investments. Critics argue that the ecosystem functions as an influence apparatus that creates the illusion of independent consensus behind policies that serve Schmidt's commercial interests. The concern: Schmidt simultaneously chairs commissions recommending increased government AI spending, funds fellows placed inside the agencies that implement those recommendations, publishes policy papers calling for defense-tech integration, and invests in the very AI and defense-tech companies that benefit from the resulting policies. ### Why it matters for philanthropy analysis The Schmidt ecosystem is a case study in three important trends: - (1) the blurring of philanthropy and venture capital ("philanthropic initiative" run through an LLC); - (2) the use of interlocking entities to create what looks like a diverse policy ecosystem but is ultimately funded and directed by a single family; and - (3) the growing role of tech billionaires in national security and defense policy, operating through philanthropic vehicles that carry reputational legitimacy unavailable to straightforward lobbyists.