Why Billionaire Wendy Schmidt Is ‘Doubling Down’ On Climate Science In The Age Of Trump

Forbes

With climate funding under threat, Wendy Schmidt is becoming an increasingly vital philanthropist—supporting deep-sea discovery, public media, and scientific collaboration across the globe.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elisabethbrier/2025/09/18/why-billionaire-wendy-schmidt-is-doubling-down-on-climate-science-in-the-age-of-trump/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Why Billionaire Wendy Schmidt is Doubling Down on Climate Science in the Age of Trump

00:06When a deep-sea expedition off the coast of Argentina this summer discovered otherworldly

00:12coral forests, neon-hued sea stars, and dozens of other unknown species, the scientific team

00:19didn't just credit advanced imaging or good weather. They credited Wendy Schmidt.

00:24Dr. Martin Brauger, a marine biologist with Argentina's National Scientific and Technical

00:30Research Council and a senior scientist on board, said, quote,

00:34This expedition would have been impossible without Schmidt Ocean Institute.

00:39He estimates the value of the ship time, crew, equipment, and technology provided by Schmidt

00:45Ocean Institute, or SOI, to be around $1.5 million, roughly 1.3 billion Argentine pesos.

00:54An investment, he says, that would have been, quote, nearly impossible to match through public funding.

01:00However, under SOI's model, scientists gain access to the vessel and its resources provided,

01:06they share their research openly with the public.

01:09Schmidt told Forbes, quote,

01:11That voyage, one of nearly 100 expeditions supported by Schmidt Ocean Institute,

01:20marked a milestone for Argentina, where research of this scale is rarely feasible due to limited

01:26scientific infrastructure. It also marked a symbolic one for Schmidt's expanding role in global climate

01:32philanthropy. She and her husband, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who Forbes estimates is worth

01:38$30.2 billion, have directed a significant portion of their $2 billion in lifetime giving

01:45towards environmental initiatives, including more than $450 million into SOI, where Wendy serves as

01:53president. With Donald Trump back in the White House and a second wave of federal rollbacks targeting

01:58climate funding and scientific independence, the stakes for private science funding have never been

02:03higher. When asked if her strategy had shifted under Trump's return, Schmidt told Forbes, quote,

02:10We're doing what we always do, but the urgency is greater now. We're doubling down on the work.

02:17Schmidt's response to rising political headwinds has been to expand, not retreat. Rather than

02:23reshuffling priorities, she's scaling existing programs, accelerating timelines, and backing researchers

02:30whose work might otherwise stall without support. That consistency has become a lifeline for the

02:35scientific community and led to her inclusion on the Forbes 2025 Sustainability Leaders List,

02:42honoring 50 individuals driving transformative climate progress around the world today.

02:48Dr. Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO of the Union of Concerned Scientists and a former assistant

02:54director in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said, quote,

02:58The U.S. has long been a leader in climate science. When we pull back, the ripple effects are global.

03:04Goldman tracked more than 200 attacks on science during Trump's first term.

03:10She said, quote,

03:11Goldman points to Schmidt's support for areas vulnerable to political interference or budget cuts,

03:21like climate data collection and science communication, as examples of where that lifeline

03:26has mattered most.

03:27Since co-founding SOI in 2009 with her husband Eric, Wendy has led efforts that have helped discover

03:35nearly 50 new species, with hundreds more pending review, supported more than 1,400 marine and ocean

03:42scientists, and live-streamed thousands of hours of deep-sea footage. Most of the 10- to 12-hour

03:48dives used to attract just a few thousand viewers who could watch what was happening at the same time as

03:53the scientists on board SOI's ship. But the Argentina expedition went unexpectedly viral,

04:00garnering over 19 million views and 6.8 million hours of watch time, much of it from young Argentinians.

04:08Brager, who was the senior scientist on board, says, quote,

04:11For many, it was their first time seeing what lies in their own deep sea, the colors, the life,

04:17the richness. That kind of visibility is rare. It makes science feel real and relevant.

04:22It's the kind of high-risk, high-reward research that's increasingly difficult to fund through

04:29traditional channels. Through a constellation of initiatives, including SOI, Schmidt Sciences,

04:36the Schmidt Family Foundation, and 11th Hour Racing, Schmidt has filed widening gaps in public

04:41support. The couple's funding spans climate modeling, biodiversity tracking, and tools that

04:47help collect and share scientific data openly, with an emphasis on the ocean. For full coverage,

04:54check out Elizabeth Breyer's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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