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After three years of near radio silence, a state that seems almost impossible to achieve in the constantly connected era, Sasha Barnes is ready to speak up again. “I guess you could say I’ve been incubating,” Barnes says. “I’ve been sheltering myself so I could grow and heal and move into a new phase that I was ready to present to the world.”
After this time away, she’s emerged with a new purpose. “My goal — no, my obligation — is to give everything I have away.” And that is no easy feat.
After helping ex-husband Benji Barnes build a tech empire only to be left fighting for her fair share in their highly publicized divorce, Barnes was left with a deep well of resources that she wants to run dry. “Most of my money goes to women and girls,” Barnes says.
Not only does she have a need-based scholarship fund for girls attending universities and trade schools, she also funds a women’s shelter that has set the standard for clinical and physical care.
Sitting in her baronial yet tasteful house in the woods, it could be so easy to retract and settle away from the limelight. However, it’s clear in Barnes’ every statement and action that she’s keenly tuned into the world outside the 1%.
Behind her is the full support of her fiancé, F1 driver Karl Müller. The two met at a charity fundraiser to rebuild after the Texas floods. “Karl may be younger, but he is the most dependable person I’ve ever known. I could tell from the first time I met him, and our first date [which came the very next day as he wasted no time, dear readers], he’s a rock for everyone he cares about. To be folded into that, to have someone who is a partner, supporter and a friend and who cares about the people around him, I just feel very lucky.”
Barnes has started her efforts focused on education, partnering with existing programs that offer college-level classes in low-income areas to help ensure graduating students’ college applications are competitive. Thus far, Sasha has helped open over 100 after-school classrooms across the nation. “The most important thing is to make sure that we’re actually making a difference. We’re teaming up with experts who have proven consistent results and giving them the resources they need.”
