 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Philanthropy 50: Americans Who Gave the Most in 2008
Eli and Edythe L. Broad
Rank: 17
Total amount committed in 2008: $100-million
Location: Los Angeles, California
Source of wealth: Finance, Real estate
Donors' background: Mr. Broad is founding chairman of the KB Home Corporation and of SunAmerica, a financial-services company, both of which have headquarters in Los Angeles.
Mr. Broad, 75, and his wife, Edythe, 72, pledged $100-million -of which $33.2-million has been paid- to the Broad Foundations, in Los Angeles, which support civic programs, contemporary-art museums, efforts to improve elementary and secondary public-school education, and medical and scientific research.
Last year the foundations awarded or pledged numerous grants, the largest of which was $400-million to endow the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in Cambridge, Mass., a biomedical-research center that is jointly run by Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The Broad Institute brings together researchers from many disciplines to fight disease and conduct research on cancer, chemical biology, genome sequencing and analysis, and medical and population genetics. Mr. and Ms. Broad helped start the institute in 2003 with a $100-million donation.
The foundations also pledged $30-million to the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles, to shore up the fiscally troubled museum's finances. Mr. Broad helped found the museum and serves on its Board of Trustees. The couple's foundations will match donations from others to the museum's endowment up to $15-million and give the museum $3-million a year for the next five years to support exhibitions.
In addition, the Broad Foundations gave $25-million to the University of California at San Francisco, for stem-cell research; $12-million to the KIPP Foundation, a charter-school group in San Francisco; and $5-million to Aspire Public Schools, in Oakland, Calif. The two charter-school organizations will use the money to establish at least 17 new campuses in the Los Angeles area.
About These Data
The giving figures listed for each individual are based on donations announced to date by the donors or their beneficiaries. In cases of bequests, most of the figures are estimates because the wills have not been settled. For news of gift announcements in 2009, visit the America's Top Donors database.
If you know about a recent gift of $1-million or more that should be added to this directory, please send a message to gifts@philanthropy.com.