Photo by Economic Security Project
Photo by Chris Hughes at LinkedIn

Chris Hughes

Co-chairman

Economic Security Project

POSITION

Co-chairman

COMPANY

Economic Security Project

COUNTRY

USA

Website

Economic Security Project

SCENE

Business

SOCIAL

LinkedIn

Instagram

Twitter

What makes Chris Hughes a Global Shaker?

Chris Hughes is known for being one of the co-founders of Facebook alongside Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin and Andrew McCollum.

He is currently one of the co-chairs of the Economic Security Project, a group of organisers, policy makers, artists, engineers and other professionals who have created “a network committed to advancing the debate on unconditional cash and basic income in the United States.”

He also helped create My.BarackObama.com—the campaign apparatus that led to the election of President Barack Obama by allowing supporters to create groups, plan events, raise funds, download tools, and connect with one another.

Chris played a key role in developing several of Facebook’s most popular features during his time at the company, which helped the social media network platform shift from a university audience to the general public.

After departing from Facebook, he volunteered with the Barack Obama campaign. In 2010, he founded and became the executive director of Jumo, a nonprofit social network organisation. From 2012 to 2016, he was the publisher, executive chairman and editor-in-chief of The New Republic.

As a believer in universal basic income, Chris wrote Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn. He also wrote an op-ed in The Guardian in 2018: It’s time for America to embrace guaranteed income.

“I’m proud of the work that I did [with Facebook], but the fact that I could make nearly a half billion dollars for three years’ worth of work – while at the same time half of Americans can’t find $400 in case of an emergency – is a testament to what is wrong with our economy,” he wrote. “The same forces that made Facebook’s rise possible have created financial instability in the lives of working Americans. Few people want a handout, but almost all could use an income boost to enable them to go back to school, get the childcare or housing support they need, or move closer to a new job.”

In May 2019, he wrote an op-ed in the New York Times called “It’s Time to Break Up Facebook,” calling for more government regulation on the social media site and Mark Zuckerberg’s influence.

Unlike two of his fellow Facebook founders, Chris finished his bachelor’s in history and literature from Harvard University, as his parents believed he “had worked too hard and too long to throw away an Ivy League education.”

Tags: Government and Politics, LGBTQ+, social media, universal basic income

Last updated: June 12, 2020