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The Philanthropy 50: Americans Who Gave the Most in 2008
Richard W. Weiland
Rank: 11
Total amount committed in 2008: $174.3-million
Location: Seattle, Washington
Source of wealth: Technology
Other key beneficiaries: Stanford University; Nature Conservancy; Children's Hospital Foundation, in Seattle; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; and United Way of King County
Donor's background: Mr. Weiland, one of the first employees of Microsoft, helped design and program early interface systems for personal computers. He retired in 1988 to concentrate on philanthropy.
Mr. Weiland, who committed suicide in 2006 at age 53, after years of battling depression, left $65-million to the Pride Foundation, a nonprofit group in Seattle that advocates for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and supports HIV/AIDS philanthropies. He stipulated that $46-million of the gift be used to establish a special fund, which foundation officials have named the Weiland Designated Fund, to be paid out over eight years to benefit 10 groups: Amfar, the Foundation for AIDS Research; Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network; In the Life; International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission; Lambda Legal; National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays; Project Inform; and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. He directed the remaining $19-million to the Pride Foundation's endowment and its scholarship program.
Mr. Weiland, who served on the boards of both Pride and the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, was a longtime donor to Pride and to each of the 10 other groups. He left instructions about what percentage of his donation each group would receive, but he did not place restrictions on the use of the money.
Those who knew him described Mr. Weiland as unassuming and intelligent. He was precise about how he allocated his donations but remained a quiet, "hands off" donor. "He'd come to a board meeting and might say one thing the entire time, but when he did, everyone listened very closely," said Audrey Haberman, executive director of the Pride Foundation.
Mr. Weiland's second-largest bequest, $60-million, went to Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1976. He directed the funds to the School of Humanities and Sciences, the School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Business, and the School of Medicine, and said each dean could decide how to use the money. He also designated a portion of the gift to endow a fund for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students at the university, and to endow a fund for undergraduate education. Stanford officials would not say exactly how much money went to each school and endowment.
Mr. Weiland also bequeathed $13-million to the Nature Conservancy, in Arlington, Va., for general use and to buy land for conservation; $8-million to the Children's Hospital Foundation in Seattle for its endowment and a matching program to raise money from other donors; and $8-million to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in Seattle. He stipulated that the center should direct 50 percent of the donation toward HIV/AIDS research, 32 percent to pilot studies and innovative research, and 18 percent to the general fund.
In addition, he left $7.6-million to the United Way of King County, in Seattle, for its Gates Endowment, established by Mr. Weiland's friend and colleague Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft.
Mr. Weiland bequeathed $3.2-million each to the Environmental Defense Fund, in New York; the Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle that he had attended; and the National Wildlife Federation, in Reston, Va. He also left $3.1-million to the Sierra Club Foundation, in San Francisco.
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.