Chairman, Participant Media

Skoll’s company pursues social-impact entertainment, which is reflected in its movie “Judas and the Black Messiah” that won two Oscars in March after additional Academy Awards nominations. The biographical drama is about a slain black activist. Participant’s slave-ship discovery documentary “Descendant” premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The company created an audience department last year to rally online communities engaged around art and activism. Participant’s 100 plus films received 85 Academy Award nominations and 21 wins, including Best Picture “Spotlight” and Oscar-winning climate documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” Skoll co-founded commerce platform eBay and later established Participant in 2004.

YEARS ON THE LA500: 7