Wendy Schmidt and her husband, Eric Schmidt, are both billionaires. Eric, the former CEO of Google, has an estimated net worth of USD 30.2 billion. Together, they have donated approximately USD 2 billion, with a significant portion dedicated to environmental causes. This includes a USD 450 million donation to the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI), where Wendy serves as president. As Donald Trump returns to the White House and the federal government implements a second round of cuts to climate funding, private support for scientific initiatives becomes increasingly vital.
Scientific research related to climate issues covers a wide range, much of which is not new. It originally fell under ocean research, atmospheric studies, and space exploration, but these studies are now grouped under the trendy umbrella of "climate research". The current policies of the Trump administration tend to encourage private investment in climate issues, while the government pulls back from funding these abstract projects. This can be seen as a strategy, as the administration has other agendas that are far more urgent and practical than the highly theoretical discussions on climate.
However, for the climate science community, Trump’s policies are clearly not a welcome sign. In the face of increasingly harsh political headwinds, the Schmidts' response has been one of expansion rather than retreat. The couple has not adjusted their priorities; instead, they are scaling up existing projects, accelerating progress, and supporting researchers whose work might otherwise come to a halt without their backing. This unwavering commitment has earned the billionaire couple a spot on Forbes Sustainability Leaders 2025, which recognizes 50 outstanding individuals worldwide who are driving transformative climate action. In other words, their donations have garnered international acclaim.
As a matter of fact, the sponsorship of billionaires is a complex endeavor that requires scientific expertise and broad knowledge. At the same time, it also demands financial acumen. Since co-founding the SOI with her husband Eric in 2009, Wendy has led initiatives that have helped discover nearly 50 new species, with hundreds more pending review, supported over 1,400 marine scientists, and broadcast thousands of hours of deep-sea footage.
Wendy has long had a deep love for the ocean. She is the owner of Elfje, a 46-meter eco-friendly sailing yacht. Built in 2014 by the Dutch shipyard Royal Huisman, the yacht was designed with a focus on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, featuring an advanced propulsion system and sustainable materials. The interior of Elfje was co-designed by Wendy herself, reflecting her own aesthetic and artistic preferences as a former interior designer.
Wendy actually owns several yachts, one of which is the 26-meter carbon fiber racing yacht Deep Blue. Designed by Botin Partners, it was built in 2020 at the King Marine shipyard in Spain. This yacht is specifically designed for high-performance sailing races, and Wendy often takes the helm herself to compete in events. In the sailing world, she is described as a talented helmswoman, despite only starting to learn sailing at the age of 52 in 2007. She has demonstrated exceptional skill, particularly when competing in international sailing competitions.
In terms of wealth management, Wendy has clearly combined her passion with scientific philanthropy. The marine science activities along the coast of Argentina, which typically attracted only a few thousand viewers for these 10- to 12-hour dives in the past, have become unexpectedly popular through Wendy's support of the Argentine deep-sea expedition. Visitors can watch the dives alongside the scientists on the SOI ship, which led to a surge in viewership. The event garnered over 19 million views, with a total watch time of 6.8 million hours, the majority of which came from young people in Argentina.
“The ocean is driving our weather, our climate, our atmosphere. It’s absorbing most of the heat. And yet we know so little about it,” Schmidt told Forbes in an interview. With years of sailing experience, she shares that her time at sea has deepened her appreciation for the ocean as a dynamic, interconnected system. “You begin to understand how alive it is—how it’s shaping weather, climate, everything”. She emphasized that the ocean is crucial to climate stability, biodiversity, and global systems, yet remains one of the least understood and explored areas of the planet. “We need to understand the whole system if we’re going to protect it. And that means looking in places we’ve never looked before”.
The marine science community has praised Wendy Schmidt for her support. Many researchers believe that Schmidt’s systems-level approach is what makes her support so unique. “She’s not trying to control the science,” says Dr. Frederik Richards, a geophysicist who became one of the first Schmidt Science Fellows in 2018 at age 26. “She’s trying to make sure it survives”.
Wendy’s charitable activities are closely aligned with her personal interests, and her philanthropy now spans a wide range of areas. These include local food systems such as The Hive, a shared commercial kitchen for small food entrepreneurs, launched in 2024, as well as immersive experiences like Agog, which helps creators and nonprofit leaders utilize extended reality, also launched in 2024. Her efforts also extend to the arts, media, and digital space. In February of this year, she acquired the documentary studio Jigsaw Productions, founded by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, to support investigative reporting focused on climate and public interest science. Earlier this year, the Schmidt Family Foundation also helped launch the Public Media Bridge Fund to support small media outlets facing closure due to reductions in public subsidies.
In fact, Wendy Schmidt’s ideas align with those of many other billionaires: not only funding individual projects but also building lasting infrastructure for science, storytelling, and collaboration. This is precisely why many billionaires, such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, are investing in media, because these media outlets serve as an "infrastructure of narrative".
In the United States, charitable investments by billionaires are essentially a mandatory "task" before and especially after retirement, and these tasks are often burdensome and inescapable. This is largely due to the heavy inheritance tax in the U.S., where the federal estate tax can be as high as 40%, with state-level inheritance taxes varying but sometimes reaching up to 20%. In passive investment, if one invests in stocks and does not hold them long-term, investment returns are also taxed at 20%. Additionally, there are other income taxes to consider. In rough estimate, based on the full scope of taxation, even a fortune of USD 1 billion may result in only USD 200-300 million in actual assets after taxes.
Hence, American billionaires are increasingly engaging in philanthropic investments, a venture that brings both fame and financial rewards. On one hand, it can earn them prestige, and on the other, it allows them to offset taxes. You could say the only real challenge lies in knowledge, because even philanthropic investments require and involve complex systems of knowledge. Without the necessary expertise, simply being "wealthy" will ultimately lead to failure and can even turn into a joke.
