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The Philanthropy 50: Americans Who Gave the Most in 2008
James LeVoy Sorenson
Rank: 2
Total amount committed in 2008: $4.5-billion
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Source of wealth: Invention, Investments
Donor's background: Mr. Sorenson, a medical-device inventor, was chairman of Sorenson Development, a holding company and the investment arm of the Sorenson Companies, in Salt Lake City.
Mr. Sorenson, who died in January 2008 at age 86, bequeathed the bulk of his estate --real estate and cash worth an estimated $4.5-billion-- to his family foundation, the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, in Salt Lake City.
The foundation, which Mr. Sorenson established in 2001, supports arts groups, colleges and universities, charities that help abused children, medical-research programs, religious organizations (especially those with a Mormon emphasis), and youth groups. Its largest grants have gone to medical causes.
The grant maker held $10-million in assets in 2006, according to the organization's most recent informational tax filing with the Internal Revenue Service, and awarded a total of $15.3-million in grants to 43 nonprofit groups, primarily in Utah, in the fiscal year ending in 2006.
The large infusion of money from the bequest, which was announced in February, will catapult the foundation into the ranks of the 20 wealthiest grant makers in the United States.
The estate is not yet settled, and Mr. Sorenson's family has declined to specify which organizations might eventually benefit from his donation. However, the foundation recently gave $15-million to the University of Utah for a new biomedical and neurosciences building, which the university plans to name for Mr. Sorenson.
In his autobiography, Mr. Sorenson described his Depression-era childhood as one plagued by poverty. The family lived in a tar-paper shack two blocks from railroad tracks in Yuba City, Calif. "We were among many struggling for survival," he wrote.
As a child, Mr. Sorenson found that he could make a little money selling newspapers. In a local almond orchard, he collected the nuts that fell to the ground and sold them for a dime a bucket.
In his teenage years, Mr. Sorenson wanted to be a physician, but a two-year stint as a Mormon missionary and service in World War II intervened. He became a pharmaceuticals salesman for the Upjohn Company. He also started investing in real estate. Through his sales work, Mr. Sorenson came across physicians and researchers who inspired many of his early inventions. In 1957 he co-founded Deseret Pharmaceuticals, and in 1962 he started the Sorenson Research Company, which he sold to Abbott Laboratories in 1980, becoming the pharmaceutical giant's largest private shareholder.
Mr. Sorenson, who accumulated at least 40 patents by the time he died, is best known in the medical world for helping to develop the first real-time computerized heart-monitoring system. He also invented blood-recycling and infusion systems, disposable surgical masks, and noninvasive intravenous catheters, among other widely adopted medical devices.
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.