Oil Tycoon Gives $135-Million to Start a Foundation

By Brennen Jensen

The oil investor T. Boone Pickens has given $135-million to establish his own philanthropic foundation.

Mr. Pickens, who founded an oil company in 1956 and an energy investment firm in 1996, has amassed a fortune that Forbes estimates at $1.5-billion. The 78-year-old oilman has announced his intentions to give away the bulk of his fortune in his lifetime.

Mr. Pickens may continue to make some gifts directly, but "the vast majority of his giving going forward will be