Powell Jobs grew up in West Milford, New Jersey. She earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences and a B.S. degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1985. She received her M.B.A. degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1991.

In October 1989, Steve Jobs gave a “View from the Top” lecture at Stanford Business School. Laurene Powell was a new MBA student and sneaked to the front of the lecture and started up a conversation with Jobs, who was seated next to her. They ended up having dinner together that night. A year and a half later, on March 18, 1991, they married in a ceremony at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Presiding over the wedding was Kōbun Chino Otogawa, a Zen Buddhist monk. Their son, Reed, was born in September 1991, followed by daughters Erin in 1995 and Eve in 1998. Laurene is also the stepmother of Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Steve’s daughter from a previous relationship, who was born in 1978.

In 1997, Powell Jobs and Carlos Watson co-founded College Track, a nonprofit organization in East Palo Alto to improve high school graduation, college enrollment, and college graduation rates for “underserved” students.

In 2004, Powell Jobs founded the Emerson Collective, a private company structured as a Limited Liability Company, that supports social entrepreneurs and organizations working in education and immigration reform, social justice, media, and journalism and conservation through partnerships, grants, and investments. Through Emerson, Powell Jobs owns The Atlantic and Axios.

On October 5, 2011, at the age of 56, Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, died due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated islet-cell neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer. Powell Jobs inherited the Steven P. Jobs Trust, which as of May 2013 had a 7.3% stake in The Walt Disney Company worth approximately $11.1 billion, and 38.5 million shares of Apple Inc.

In September 2015, Powell Jobs launched a $50 million project to create high schools with new approaches to education. Called XQ: The Super School Project, the initiative aims to inspire teams of educators, students, and community leaders to create and implement new plans for high schools. Efforts include altering school schedules, curriculums and technologies in order to replace the country’s century-old high school education model. Funding for XQ comes from Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective. Following an initial $50 million financial contribution, XQ announced an additional contribution, awarding ten schools $10 million each, for a total financial contribution of $100 million. The schools were chosen from approximately 700 submissions nationwide. Powell Jobs’ team of advisors is led by Russlynn H. Ali.

In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Powell Jobs donated $2 million to Hillary Clinton and raised a further $4 million for her.

On October 3, 2017, reports indicated Powell Jobs had purchased a stake in the ownership group Monumental Sports & Entertainment that includes the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals, and Capital One Arena. Her approximately twenty percent stake makes her the second largest shareholder behind chairman Ted Leonsis.

In 2017, she backed the founding of the political organization ACRONYM, which raised ethical questions for Powell Jobs for its creation of Courier Newsroom.

As of 2018, Powell Jobs sits on the board of directors of College Track, Conservation International, and Stanford University. She is chair of the board of directors of XQ and also sits on the chairman’s advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2014, she was ranked as the 29th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. Her ranking rose from #39 in 2013.

Powell Jobs’ philanthropy has been described as of limited “transparency and accountability.” In fact, in 2019, Powell Jobs was named the “Least Transparent Mega-Giver” of 2019 by Inside Philanthropy.

In the 2020 U.S. presidential primaries, Powell Jobs donated to the campaigns of Democratic candidates Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Michael Bennet. After Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, she went on to donate over $600,000 to his campaign.