NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Trust Company of the West

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Arts & Culture, Medical & Science Research

OVERVIEW: Robert Day and family conduct philanthropy through the Robert A. Day Foundation, which gave away around $5.3 million in a recent year. Day is a major supporter of his alma mater, private school Claremont McKenna College.

BACKGROUND: Robert Addison Day graduated with a B.S. in economics from Claremont McKenna College in suburban Los Angeles in 1965. In 1971, he founded Trust Company of the West, an asset management firm. He’s been on the Forbes billionaire list in the past.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION: Like other Wall Streeters who graduated from Claremont McKenna including Henry Kravis, Day is also a major patron of the small liberal arts school outside of Los Angeles. He made a $200 million gift to the school, creating the Robert Day Scholars Program, a “unique academic program that builds upon the best elements of an undergraduate liberal arts education with state-of-the-art curricula in finance, accounting, and organizational leadership.” Day continues to support his alma mater, whose board he once chaired. Through the W.M. Keck Foundation, which was founded by Day’s grandfather William Myron Keck, he’s supported the The Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies of Claremont McKenna College. A number of Day family members are involved in leadership with the W.M. Keck Foundation. Other grantees have included Cate School, Arizona State University Foundation, USC, and UCLA Foundation.

ARTS & CULTURE: Grantees have included Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress; Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens; George W. Bush Foundation; and Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation.

MEDICAL & SCIENCE RESEARCH: Day and family help lead the W.M. Keck Foundation, one of the nation’s largest charitable foundations which supports scientific, engineering, and medical research in the United States. Through his family foundation, Day has supported places like Israel Cancer Research Fund and Stop Cancer.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Day’s work in higher education to continue in particular.

CONTACT:

The Robert A. Day Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family ,but below is an address:

Robert A. Day Foundation
865 S. Figueroa St., No. 700
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 891-6300

NET WORTH: $3.5 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Hyatt Hotels, The Pritzker Group

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Foster Care, Environment, Medicine, Community

OVERVIEW: Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker move philanthropy through the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation (AJPFF) to fund philanthropic causes in the areas of education, foster care, environmental sustainability, health, and social services. The couple are major patrons of UCLA.

BACKGROUND: Anthony Pritzker graduated from Dartmouth College and received his M.B.A. from University of Chicago. Pritzker runs The Pritzker Group, a private equity firm. He is is one of 11 billionaire heirs to the Chicago-based Pritzker family fortune, which includes Hyatt Hotels. He is based in Los Angeles.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: The couple donated $10 million to UCLA in 2018 to create the Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families, and $30 million in 2020 for a major renovation of the Psychology Tower on the UCLA campus. AJPFF has also supported places like California State University Los Angeles, UC Riverside, Year Up, and USC. Pritzker also supports his alma mater University of Chicago. The foundation appears to prioritize higher education institutions.

The Pritzkers also have a strong interest in foster care. In 2008, Jeanne launched Foster Care Counts, a branch of AJPFF which helps Los Angeles’ foster parents care for and nurture the city’s foster children and guides foster youth as they leave the system and attempt to become successful young adults.  And the Pritzker Foster Care Initiative works to support transition-age foster youth and the families that provide them with homes.

ENVIRONMENT: In 2013, the foundation gave $15 million to the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Environmental support is broadly centered on preservation of the natural environment. Pritzker has served on the board of Heal the Bay, an environmental group in Santa Monica.

MEDICINE: The foundation recently made a $30 million commitment to support a major renovation of the Psychology Tower on the UCLA campus, creating Pritzker Hall. Through the years, the foundation has directed some $100 million to UCLA. Grantees have included Mattel Children’s Hospital,

COMMUNITY: Pritzker co-created the L.A. Students Most in Need charity in early 2020 to feed vulnerable students in the Los Angeles Unified School District during the COVID-19 shutdown. AJPFF is also interested in the arts and Jewish life, with an eye towards Los Angeles. He’s been a trustee of LACMA, which the family supports. The couple also support Wilshire Boulevard Temple, and Jewish Federation.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect this part of the Pritzker billionaire clan to continue to give tracking with their established interest areas.

CONTACT:

Anthony & Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation
11150 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 1500
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-575-9400 x1161
info@ajpff.org

NET WORTH: Unknown 

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Development Capital Partners, Aperture Venture Partners

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Global, Arts

OVERVIEW: Paul and Susan Tierney, as well as their three children, move philanthropy through the Tierney Family Foundation, an art, cultural and humanities organization that provides grantmaking assistance. 

BACKGROUND: Raised in suburban Chicago, Paul E. Tierney, Jr. graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1964 and with his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1968. He starting a merchant bank in London and was later a senior vice president at White, Weld & Co., which Merrill Lynch purchased. He is a partner of Development Capital Partners and a general partner of Aperture Venture Partners, two private investment vehicles specializing respectively in emerging markets and early stage health care ventures. Tierney once owned MLS team, D.C. United.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION: Tierney supports his alma maters University of Notre Dame, and Harvard Business School. The family has also given funds to son Matthew’s schools Georgetown and Columbia University, where Tierney has taught. Other grantees have included Trinity School (Matthew is a parent), University of Cape Town, and San Francisco Day School, where daughter Trish is on the board of trustees.

The foundation once partnered with American Indian College Fund for scholarships for American Indian students. Susan sat on the board of the fund.

GLOBAL: Tierney has been active on the global stage both in business and on the nonprofit side. He was in the Peace Corps in Chile working for an economic development program. As Tierney puts it, “I’ve really had two careers…one as a for-profit financial entrepreneur and one as a crusader for economic development.” For some three decades, he served as chairman of TechnoServe, a nonprofit organization operating in nearly 30 countries that works in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. 

Through their foundation, the Tierneys have supported places like African Leadership Foundation, and Global Greengrants Fund, which works in global environmental justice. Trish is CEO and co-founder of WAKE (Women’s Alliance for Knowledge Exchange), a nonprofit in the the Bay Area works to alleviate resource constraints for women, especially in areas such as Cambodia, Guatemala, Peru and the Ukraine as well as in the United States. The family support WAKE via their foundation.

ARTS: In 2003, the Tierney Family Foundation created the Tierney Fellowship, which supports emerging artists in the field of photography. The Fellowship supports recipients both through funds and with with mentorship and guidance from seasoned experts. The current status of the fellowship is unclear however. Matthew Tierney is on the fellowship committee and has long been interested in photography and supporting the arts. Through their foundation, the family has also supported places like Metropolitan Opera, and Market Photo Workshop in South Africa.

OTHER: The Tierneys have made other grants in the realm of health, including Stamford Hospital. They’ve also given support to public policy organization Hudson Institute, where Tierney has served as a panelist discussing his book on philanthropy.

LOOKING FORWARD: The family’s three children should be watched carefully as giving moves into the next generation. Philanthropy may yet deepen down the line.

CONTACT:

The Tierney Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family, but below is an address:

The Tierney Family Foundation
17 Butlers Island Rd.
Darien, CT 06820

NET WORTH: Unknown 

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Morgan Stanley 

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Arts & Culture, Health & Human Services

OVERVIEW: Bill and Anne Kneisel conduct philanthropy through the Kneisel Foundation, which gave away around $304,000 in a recent year. Family giving focuses on the Northeast, particularly Boston. The Kneisels support schools with which they have a personal connection rather than having a broader education strategy. Another interest is the arts.

BACKGROUND: Bill Kneisel graduated from Dartmouth College and then from the Harvard Business School. He joined Morgan Stanley & Co. in 1974, where he eventually became head of Morgan's Worldwide Equity Capital Market Group. He worked at Lazard Frères & Co. for a year and then returned to Morgan Stanley, becoming an advisory director.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: Kneisel supports his alma maters Harvard Business School and Dartmouth College. The family also supports Anne’s Pingree School. Other grantees have included Island Academy, Teach for America, and Charlotte Country Day School.

ARTS & CULTURE: Grantees have included Peabody Essex Museum, Bruce Museum, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, WNET and Cape Ann Museum. The couple have also supported places like Met Opera.

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: The Kneisels have supported places like Beverly Hospitals, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Anne is also involved with her family’s Hooper Fund, which makes grants to “promote year round after school educational and recreational programs for children in the Manchester/Essex community.”

OTHER: Kneisel has a passion for nature and the outdoors. The family have made smaller grants to places like Conservation International and Conservation Law Foundation.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect the family to stick with their established interest areas.

CONTACT:

The Kneisel Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family, but below is an address:

The Kneisel Foundation
8 Washington St.
Beverly, MA 01915

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Promontory Financial Group, Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank

FUNDING AREAS: Medical Research, Education, Opportunity, Arts

OVERVIEW: Eugene and Carol Ludwig conduct philanthropy through the Ludwig Family Foundation (LFF), which focuses primarily on medical research, education and access to opportunity for low and moderate income families.

BACKGROUND: Born in Brooklyn, Eugene A. Ludwig graduated from Haverford College with his B.A. in 1968, his M.A. from Oxford University in 1970, and received his J.D. from Yale University in 1973. He was a partner at the law firm of Covington & Burling. From 1993 to 1998, he headed the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Ludwig was later vice chairman of Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank and went on to found Promontory Financial Group, an IBM Company.

Carol Ludwig graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1969 and received her M.D. from Columbia University in 1974. She is a long-standing neuropathology specialist in Washington D.C.

ISSUES:

MEDICAL RESEARCH: The couple support Johns Hopkins Medicine, home to the Ludwig Family Department of Medicine Physician-Scientists. Other medical work takes place at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, towards research in neurological disease, focusing on Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury. Carol also created, in honor of her parents, the Sara and Arnold P. Friedman Awards program, which provides funding to allow students to pursue projects abroad and to travel to meetings to present their work. Carol’s father was a prominent neurologist and international authority on migraine headaches. The Ludwigs also support Harvard Medical School’s Neurobiology Graduate Fellowship Fund, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Children’s Health Fund.

EDUCATION: The Ludwigs have directed millions to National Academy Foundation (NAF), the site of the Carol and Gene Ludwig Alumni Scholars Program. Ludwig is a longtime board member of NAF. The couple also support schools with which they have a personal connection including Franklin & Marshall College, where they are parents; Yale Law School, home to the Eugene and Carol Ludwig Center for Community & Economic Development; Oxford University; and Haverford College. Other grantees have included Advocates for Children of New York.

The Ludwig Family Foundation is also involved with the KIPP Foundation and KIPP DC. They created the KIPP National Ludwig College Persistence Fund, a microgrant program in select communities to help KIPP alumni persist through college.

OPPORTUNITY: The Ludwig Family Foundation supports access to opportunity for low and moderate income families. They’ve supported organizations like So Others Might Eat, and Homeless Children's Playtime Project.

ARTS: A component of giving includes supports of the arts. Grantees have included Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Paul Taylor Dance Foundation, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and National Gallery of Art.

LOOKING FORWARD: Ludwig has been one of the highest-paid executives in recent years. Expect steady giving to continue to track with established interest areas.

CONTACT:

The Ludwig Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the couple, but below is an address:

The Ludwig Family Foundation
1300 17th Street N No 750
Arlington, VA 22209
(571) 777-9360

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: MSD Capital 

FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Children's Education, Health & Well-Being, Minority Causes & Criminal Justice Reform

OVERVIEW:  Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman and family move their philanthropy through the Fuhrman Family Foundation. The Fuhrman Family Foundation's grantmaking focuses on the arts, children’s education, women’s causes, health and well-being, minority causes and criminal justice reform. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $1.7 million in grants in 2017. The couple are major collectors of contemporary art and founded a nonprofit that showcases contemporary art.

BACKGROUND: Glenn Fuhrman attended UPenn, receiving a B.S.E. in 1987 and an MBA in 1988. He worked at Goldman Sachs from 1988 to 1998 and was a Managing Director and Head of the Special Investments Group. He went on to cofound MSD Capital.

ISSUES:   

ARTS & CULTURE: Fuhrman and his wife Amanda are major art collectors, specializing in contemporary art. They have been on ARTNews’ Top 200 art collectors list throughout the decade. Fuhrman sits on the board of MoMA, which the couple strongly supports. He is a trustee of Tate Americas Foundation and a board member of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. In 2008 and for every year since, the Fuhrman family has underwritten free admission at the Institute of Contemporary Art.  

The Fuhrmans established The FLAG Art Foundation in 2008 as a Contemporary Art exhibition space in New York’s Chelsea Arts District. FLAG is free and open to the public, presenting exhibitions of international established and emerging artists, curated by a wide range of creative people including the artists Chuck Close and Jim Hodges, and basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal.

The Family is a frequent contributor to the Public Art Fund supporting public installations, including major Ai Wei Wei installations throughout New York. They have also underwritten major museum exhibitions including the 2017 Rachel Whiteread exhibitions at the Tate along with its presentation at the National Gallery in Washington DC in 2018. They have also supported Apollo Theater. 

CHILDREN'S EDUCATION: The Fuhrmans established the The FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence, which “recognizes and celebrates extraordinary public school teachers who inspire learning through creativity, passion, and commitment.” It gives one winner from each of the five NYC boroughs a $25,000 cash prize. Their schools receive a $10,000 grant toward the creation of an arts-based learning initiative; however, the 2020 winner’s school received a significantly larger grant of $100,000. The Fuhrman’s have supported places like The Harlem Children’s Zone. Amanda Fuhrman, meanwhile, is on the board of Edible Schoolyard NY.

HEALTH & WELL-BEING: The couple have supported places like NY Presbyterian Hospital/Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns and the 92nd Street Y. 

MINORITY CAUSES & CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM: Earlier in the decade, Fuhrman and Amanda sponsored the creation of the nation's largest free Wi-Fi network covering 95 city blocks in Harlem. They have also supported groups like The Bard Prison Initiative and are founding members of Art for Justice Fund, "a five-year initiative that aims to turn art into action, investing more than $100 million into strategic efforts to reform the criminal justice system."

LOOKING FORWARD: Fuhrman is still engaged in business and the couple’s charitable vehicle is recently minted. The family should be watched carefully for greater giving down the line, particularly in the arts. 

CONTACT:

The Fuhrman Family Foundation

640 Park Ave.

New York, NY 10065

NET WORTH: $1.7B

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Element Capital Management

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Jewish Causes, Environmental Conservation

OVERVIEW: Jeffrey and Mara Talpins conduct their philanthropy through the JMT Charitable Foundation, which seeks to improve career opportunities for inner-city children, support long-term prosperity for Israel, and conserve open spaces and wildlife, as for the Everglades Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $2.73 million in grants in 2017. The Talpins have served on the boards of such organizations as Harlem Children’s Zone in the past.

BACKGROUND: Jeffrey Marc Talpins graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with a B.S. in economics and applied mathematics. He worked within the Mortgage Backed Securities Department at Goldman Sachs and was the Head Trader of Citigroup's Fixed Income Options franchise. He went on to found Element Capital Management, an alternative investment manager with a modern macro style of global macro investing, in 2005 at Proxima Alfa Investments USA LLC.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: The Talpins’ investments in education and youth center on improving career opportunities for inner city youth, as well as other under-served communities. Talpins has served on the board of Harlem Children’s Zone for seven years, and has also served on the HCZ CMO and HCZ Promise Academy I and II boards. Past education and youth grantees include Yale University, where Talpins endowed the faculty directorship of the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University to help advance domestic policy research. Other education and youth grantees include Success Academy, Ice Hockey in Harlem, and Beat the Streets Wrestling, which aims to “develop the full human and athletic potential of the urban youth and to strengthen the culture of New York City wrestling.” Lastly, Talpins has also made grants to the Youth Renewal Fund, which provides educational opportunities to Israeli high school students from lower income and minority communities.

JEWISH CAUSES: The Talpins support several Jewish organizations including the Jewish National Fund, Jewish Community Relations Council and the United Jewish Appeal Federation, among others.

ENVIRONMENT: The Talpins’ environmental giving centers on wildlife and habitat conservation. The Everglades Foundation has become a major part of this giving area. Jeffrey and Mara Talpins serve on the board of American Prairie Reserve. Mara has a lifelong passion for wildlife and has been actively involved with the Wildlife Conservation Society for some two decades, starting as a volunteer at the Central Park Zoo. Other environmental conservation grantees include the NRDC.

COVID-19: In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Talpins' Element Capital Management partnered with Robin Hood to launch the Element Capital Covid-19 Relief Fund, which focuses on food and child care assistance for healthcare workers on the front line, needs for elderly New Yorkers who are isolated, and food aid for the impoverished. Past grantees in this space include Citymeals on Wheels, City Harvest, City Harvest London and the Robin Hood Covid-19 Relief Fund, as well as two initiatives that Element helped launch, providing meals and childcare services to New York City frontline workers.

In addition, Element Capital Management offered a 3-1 match for all employee donations with no dollar limit. All Element employee participated and donated to the Element Relief Fund, raising $2 million dollars to support neighbors and local heroes.

OTHER:

Though not listed on its website, Element Capital offers a matching gift program to its employees through which the Foundation matches the charitable donation of Element employees up to $50,000 per employee per year. Furthermore, Element offers a discounted fee rate to investors that are also charitable institutions.  

Talpins has also funded support for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Additional grantmaking includes investments in health and human service organizations such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the American Cancer Society.

CONTACT:

JMT Charitable Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:

JMT Charitable Foundation
600 Lexington Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10022

 NET WORTH: $2.6 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: First Premier Bank, United National Corporation

FUNDING AREAS: Health, Education & Youth

OVERVIEW: T. Denny Sanford conducts his philanthropy through the Denny Sanford Foundation. Available tax filings reveal that the foundation awarded $1.75 million in grants from 2017 to 2018. Sanford is also a Giving Pledge signatory has already given an estimated $1.6 billion to charitable causes, and plans to “die broke” by distributing most, if not all of his remaining fortune within the course of his lifetime. The vast majority of his money goes to help children, and children’s health initiatives in particular. A recent ProPublica article revealed that Sanford was under investigation for child pornography, and although Sanford was not charged with a crime, it appears the case was passed to the U.S. Department of Justice for further investigation.

BACKGROUND: T. Denny Sanford was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in psychology. After college, he started a firm that represented manufacturers of construction materials, eventually went public, and then sold, netting Sanford $20 million. At 45, he moved to Florida, but ended up divorcing and moving back to Minnesota, where he dabbled in venture capital. When an opportunity presented itself to purchase a small bank in South Dakota, Sanford jumped on it, and renamed the bank First Premier, which has now become part of United National Corporation.

ISSUES:

HEALTH: Back in the early 2000s, when Sioux City Health was building the first new children’s hospital in the U.S. in more than a decade, their development director persuaded Sanford to make a $16 million donation in exchange for naming rights to the hospital. The hospital changed its name to Sanford Health in 2007 after a whopping $400 million. In 2011, he gave an additional $100 million and also helped facilitate a $15 million partnership with the Mayo Clinic around pediatric research.

Outside the health system, he has given $20 million to the University of South Dakota Medical School, which was renamed the Sanford School of Medicine, and made significant contributions to the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. He has also given away $100 million to create a breast cancer foundation in honor of his mother—the Edith Sanford Breast Center—$100 million to UC San Diego to create the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, $30 million to build a facility for embryonic stem cell research called the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, $10 million to the Florida Hospital for Children, and nearly $5 million to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

EDUCATION: Though Sanford rescinded his $35 million gift for the University of Minnesota’s new football stadium, he did eventually contribute $6 million in 2009 for naming rights to the athletic hall of fame, closing out the university’s $86 million funding drive for the stadium. He has also given $5 million to South Dakota State for a student athlete center. He gave nearly $19 million to the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University, creating a partnership with Teach for America. Sanford recently partnered with the State of South Dakota to create the Build Dakota program, which provides scholarships to technical schools. He also donated $1 million to launch the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy at National University, where students can better learn the art of fundraising, an issue Sanford believes to be overlooked, yet vital in nonprofit education. Arizona State University is also home to the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. 

Sanford recently gave the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans a $30 million gift to establish the Horatio Alger-Denny Sanford Scholarship Program, a 10-year initiative that, starting with the 2019-20 academic year, will provide $3 million annually in scholarships to Alger scholars who choose to attend any of a dozen institutions selected by Sanford. 

Sanford, along with another major donor, recently gave Dakota State University $30 million to fund the construction of Madison Cyber Labs to expand the school's footprint as one of the country's most innovative cybersecurity research institutions. Sanford also donated $12.5 million to endow the law school at University of South Dakota and rename it the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law. Sanford, in partnership with First Premier Bank, has pledged $50 million to create a fund at the South Dakota Community Foundation to support need-based college scholarships at South Dakota universities

CHILDREN: Sanford’s first major philanthropic gift was for $2 million to the Children’s Home Society of South Dakota back in 1998. He has since donated another $15 million to the organization, as well as $7 million to the Roundup River Ranch, part of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Camps for seriously ill children, and $1 million to the similar Whispering Hope Ranch Foundation. In a creative effort to boost the spirits of ill children, Sanford donated $9 million to the San Diego Zoo based on the idea that old, fun footage of animals would benefit these kids during their hospital stays. Sanford recently gave another $30 million gift to the San Diego Zoo. The gift will go towards the estimated $69 million cost of constructing a brand new children's zoo to be named the Sanford Children's Zoo.

OTHER: Sanford made a $5 million donation to the Crazy Horse Memorial in 2007, and another $10 million in 2013. He also funds the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), a cutting-edge physics laboratory located in a former gold mine in South Dakota.

LOOKING FORWARD:  Sanford seems to realize that he may not have too many more years to decide how he wants to get rid of his fortune. He seems to prefer giving it away in large chunks as well. Stem cell research seems to be a major areas of interest, though, and any major programs that address health and education issues for kids stand to gain from Sanford’s desire to give away his fortune.

CONTACT:

Denny Sanford Foundation
206 W 14th St. P.O. Box 1030
Sioux Falls, SD 57101
(480) 922-8998

NET WORTH: $1.5 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Pacific Investment Management Co.

FUNDING AREAS: Health, global development, education, arts and culture, and Southern California

OVERVIEW: Bill Gross's primary interest is in health, although he has made significant gifts in other areas as well. A signatory of the Giving Pledge, he is nevertheless rather selective about the organizations he supports, preferring to make significant contributions to a few major institutions than to spread his giving out among a lot of different organizations. Recently, Bill and Sue Gross split, with Sue walking away with more than $1 billion.

BACKGROUND: Bill Gross was born in Ohio, spent much of his childhood in San Francisco, and now lives in Southern California. He did his undergrad at Duke before joining the Navy and then getting an MBA at UCLA. From there, he went to Pacific Mutual Life and then cofounded Pacific Investment Management, where he managed what has become the world's largest bond fund. He also has written a couple of popular books on investing. In the fall of 2014, Gross left Pacific Investment Management to join Janus Capital Group. 

ISSUES:

HEALTH: The bulk of Gross's giving so far has gone toward capital campaigns for medical centers. Gross is rather choosy about the organizations he supports, but when he decides to back an organization, he generally makes very substantial contributions. For example, he and his then wife, Sue, made a $20 million donation to the Hoag Hospital Foundation near their home in Orange County, California, to support its Women's Pavilion. They also gave $20 million to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles for the new Sue and Bill Gross Surgery and Procedure Center. On a smaller scale, Gross supports a number of other health organizations close to home, such as Radiant Health Centers, formerly AIDS Services Foundation, in Orange County.

In addition to funding health organizations in Southern California, Gross is a major supporter of international health organizations. Gross is the single largest donor to Doctors Without Borders, contributing approximately $30 million over the years. They have also given $20 million to Mercy Ships to build a second floating hospital. This state-of-the-art mobile facility is able to provide large numbers of people in underserved areas with free health care, community development and health education, mental health programs, agriculture projects, and palliative care. To start 2016, Gross donated $40 million to the UCI to rename the Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing.

Gross gave $2.4 million for Covid-19 relief efforts in Southern California and around the world. This includes support for local food banks, including the Second Harvest Food Bank, Orange County Food Bank, the Laguna Food Pantry, and United Way of Greater Los Angeles, and $1.4 million to Salvation Army Homeless Shelter Anaheim.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT: Gross has donated more than $19 million to the Millennium Villages Project, which addresses the root causes of extreme poverty in Africa by uniting science, business, civil society, and government in a holistic, community-led approach to sustainable development.

EDUCATION: At $23.5 million, Gross's biggest education donation has gone to his alma mater, Duke University, $20 million of which was set aside for financial aid. He has also given to the University of California Irvine, UCLA, and James Hines Teacher of the Year Foundation.

LOOKING FORWARD: Gross is a signatory of the Giving Pledge and has committed to giving half his fortune to philanthropic causes. He has already given major support to a number of organizations that are doing great things in health and economic development, so rather than supporting organizations with similar missions, it is possible that he may look to expand his philanthropy to other areas.

CONTACT:

The William, Jeff & Jennifer Gross Family Foundation

3131 Camino Del Rio North, No. 1200

San Diego, CA 92108

Contact Us

NET WORTH: Unknown 

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Ellington Management Group

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Health, Human Services, Global 

OVERVIEW: Mike Vranos and family move their philanthropy through the Vranos Family Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $1.26 million in grants in 2017. The family's giving centers around the Northeast, particularly Connecticut. Vranos has given some of his largest gifts to Harvard, in support of stem cell and life sciences research. 

BACKGROUND: Raised in Ellington, Connecticut, Michael W. Vranos began his Wall Street career in 1983, after graduating from Harvard University. Vranos was the senior managing director of Kidder Peabody in charge of RMBS trading. In 1994 he founded Ellington Management Group, an investment and advisory firm based in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, where he serves as CEO. 

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: Vranos has strongly supported his alma mater Harvard. Much of this giving has revolved around the life sciences and the family steadily funds stem cell research at Harvard. As Vranos puts it, "Most of our giving has been directed to the life sciences, because I believe this area of research will have the most direct impact on helping humanity in the future, possibly more so than other physical sciences." Through the years, the Vranoses have established the Michael and Anna Vranos Graduate Fellowship Fund in the Life Sciences, the Vranos Family Junior Faculty Development Fund for Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, and the Vranos Family Graduate Research Fellowship in Developmental and Regenerative Biology. Aside from Harvard, the family has also supported The UConn Foundation, and Dartmouth College.

On the K-12 front, the Vranos family has strongly supported Chicago Hope Academy, Hopkins School, and Boys & Girls Harbor, where Vranos sits on the board of directors. Other grantees have included Adam J. Lewis Preschool, East Harlem Tutorial Program, Teach for America, Squash Haven, Waterside School, and Ellington Community Scholarship Association. 

HEALTH: Apart from the life sciences research that the Vranoses help fund at Harvard, another interest appears to be brain/neurological and behavioral disorders. Vranos Family Foundation grantees have included ALS Association, Autism Speaks, INSPIRE for Autism, and NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. 

HUMAN SERVICES: Vranos serves on the board of Hedge Funds Care, which the family has supported. Other grantees include City Harvest, Bridgeport Rescue Mission, CT Food Bank, and CT Prize, a social venture competition targeting poverty problems.

GLOBAL: A component of this family's philanthropy involves international organizations like Doctors Without Borders, buildON, Heifer International, Refugees International, and Smile Train. 

LOOKING FORWARD: The Vranos family's life sciences work at Harvard should be watched carefully. Perhaps other stem cell research away from Vranos' alma mater will be more robustly supported down the line. 

CONTACT:

The Vranos Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family but below is an address:

The Vranos Family Foundation

53 Forest Ave., 2nd Fl.

Old Greenwich, CT 06870

LINK:

Ellington Management Group

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Quellos Group, BlackRock, Sahsen Ventures

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Youth and Families, Life Sciences, Social Justice, Environment

OVERVIEW: Bryan and Christine White conduct philanthropy through the Sahsen Foundation, which according to available tax filings, awarded $1.7 million in grants in 2018. However, the foundation’s grantmaking is opaque; the family has set up a donor advised fund with Vanguard Charitable.

BACKGROUND: Bryan White graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematical economics from Pomona College and went on to receive a MBA in accounting and finance from University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He was a senior consultant at PwC, and co-founded Quellos Group in Seattle in 1994. He was a managing director at BlackRock and then founded Sahsen Ventures.

SAHSEN VENTURES & FOUNDATION: Bryan White founded Sahsen Ventures in 2016 to “pollinate and nurture mission-driven enterprises that support the Earth and all its inhabitants.” Sahsen makes investments in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations with an emphasis on “technology and biotechnology that hold the promise to help resolve some the world’s most pressing issues.” Sahsen funds work related to education, youth and families, life sciences, social justice, and the environment.

Bryan and his wife Christine conduct philanthropy through the Sahsen Foundation, which awarded about $1.5 million in a recent year. However, the foundation’s grantmaking lacks transparency. The family has set up a donor advised fund with Vanguard Charitable. White serves on the board of his alma mater Pomona College, as well as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Friends of Camp Gallagher. White is also on the advisory board of Institute of Protein Design at University of Washington.

LOOKING FORWARD: White has said that much of his work is voluntary. Perhaps his foundation will be a little more accessible down the line.

CONTACT:

Sahsen Foundation
1420 5th Ave., No. 4100
Seattle, WA 98101

NET WORTH: $8.1 billion           

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Fidelity Investments

FUNDING AREAS: Health, Arts & Culture, Preservation, Boston Community

OVERVIEW: Before his death in March 2022, Johnson’s biggest giving was in arts and culture, and historical preservation in the Boston area, where he was on the board of several health and cultural institutions. He was generally quiet about his philanthropy, and gave through several different vehicles, including the Edward C. Johnson Fund, and the Fidelity Charitable Fund. According to available tax filings, the Johnson Fund awarded over $2.26 million in grants and the Fidelity Foundation gave away $39.4 million in 2017.

BACKGROUND: Edward Johnson’s father founded Fidelity Investments, and after graduating from Harvard and spending a few years in the army, Edward joined his father and eventually took over the company, where he served as Chairman and CEO before handing over the reins to his daughter, Abigail. Johnson’s philanthropy remained largely close to home, but he supported charities throughout the United States through Fidelity’s charitable arm, which is fairly substantial. Rather than focusing on any particular charitable cause, Fidelity makes capacity-building grants to non-profit organizations. Similar to Johnson’s personal giving, the bulk of the grants go toward health, education, and arts and culture in the U.S.

ISSUES:

HEALTH: Through Fidelity’s Charitable Gift Fund, Johnson has made donations that generally range from $1 to 3 million to a number of Boston area hospitals and medical centers, as well as hospitals and research institutes generally based in New York, California, and the Midwest. Past grantees include the Foundation for Neurological Diseases, the Lupus Research Institute, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and St. Mary’s in Michigan. 

ARTS & CULTURE: Johnson founded the Brookfield Arts Foundation in 1999 to purchase art and lend it to museums, or in some cases give it to their permanent collections. The Foundation has more than $166 million in assets, virtually all of which has come from donations from the Johnson family, and the appreciation of Foundation’s art collection. Johnson is also on the board of trustees of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which has received more than $80 million in donations from a variety of charitable vehicles the Johnsons use for their philanthropy, including the Brookfield Arts Foundation, the Edward C. Johnson Fund, and the Fidelity Foundation.

Boston’s Peabody Essex Museum is the other major recipient of gifts from the Johnsons, and has received over $140 million in contributions. Other museums, arts centers, and theatres have received smaller donations, and while the majority of these are in the Boston area through the Edward C. Johnson Fund, the Fidelity Foundation supports organizations in a wider geographic area. Johnson has also been known to provide funding for Zen Gardens and the printing of Buddhist literature.

PRESERVATION: The Johnsons have given smaller donations to numerous historical preservation and conservation societies mainly in the Boston area, though their support extends throughout New England, and in particular to Maine, and Rhode Island.

CONSERVATION: The Johnsons have funded a number of programs focusing on conservation education, particularly for kids. The largest of this type of gift has been to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, which has received just over $3 million, although grants generally range from around $10,000 to $150,000.

EDUCATION: The Johnsons have donated to a number of schools through their family fund as well as the Fidelity Foundation. While donations through the family fund tend to have some personal connection, the Fidelity Foundation has a history of supporting a broader range of educational institutions.

BOSTON COMMUNITY: In addition to historical preservation and Boston-area health centers, the Johnsons fund Boston-area schools and libraries, and more traditional community organizations, including Boys and Girls Clubs and little league organizations.

LOOKING FORWARD: At this point, it is still unclear what will happen to Johnson’s fortune following his death. Additionally, the future of his charitable vehicles remains a matter of speculation.

CONTACT:

 info@FidelityFoundation.org 

LINKS:

Fidelity Foundation

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Omega Advisors, Vice Chairman; Goldman Sachs

FUNDING AREAS: Health, Jewish causes, NYC community

OVERVIEW: Steven G. Einhorn and his wife Shelley conduct their philanthropy through the Einhorn Family Foundation, which has been around since 1989, and in recent years has given around $1 to $2 million annually, mainly in New York City (It should not be confused with either the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust or the Einhorn Family Foundation based in Milwaukee). A key area of interest for the couple is health, and Einhorn has served on the board of trustees at Mt. Sinai Hospital. They have steadily supported outfits at Mt. Sinai that help the hearing impaired. It is unclear how much Einhorn is worth and the Einhorns spread their money around to only a select few causes.

BACKGROUND: Einhorn is the vice chairman of Omega Advisors, Leon Cooperman's investment advisory firm, which currently manages over $9 billion in assets. Prior to that, Einhorn was Goldman Sachs's Partner-In-Charge of the global investment research department and co-chairman of the Investment Policy Committee. Einhorn received a B.A. from Rutgers, and an M.S. from the University of Illinois.

ISSUES:

HEALTH: The Einhorns have been giving steadily to the Center for Hearing and Communication (CHC) in Lower Manhattan for years. CHC has supported those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind since its founding in 1910. Between 2010 and 2013 alone, the Einhorns gave at least $1 million to CHC. Shelley Einhorn uses a hearing aid and is a client of the Center for Hearing and Communication, as well as serving on the board of directors. The Einhorns also established the Shelley and Steven Einhorn Audiology and Communication Center within the Center for Hearing and Communication. It is unclear how much money the Einhorns put into this center, but the space boasts "state-of-the-art hearing testing and hearing aid fitting, and special expertise in evaluating and providing hearing aids to very young infants and children."

Einhorn is also a benefactor of the Mt. Sinai system in New York, where he has served as a trustee. The Einhorns have given $1 million to establish the Shelley and Steven Einhorn Clinical Research Center at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mt. Sinai. In 2007, Einhorn and Shelley also put $5 million down to establish the Shelley and Steven Einhorn Laboratory for Experimental Cancer Therapeutics.

In recent years, the Migraine Research Foundation, NYU Langone Medical Center, and Damon Runyon Cancer Center have also received modest sums. Recently, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary Glaucoma Research Fund received sums of under $10,000.

NEW YORK CITY COMMUNITY: Apart from health, Einhorn has given assorted sums to several kinds of outfits in New York City. He has given to Central Park Conservancy, Robin Hood Foundation, the American Museum of Natural History, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, the Metropolitan Opera Fund, and the Teak Fellowship. Grants to these outfits have rarely exceeded $50,000 annually. They also gave $1 million to Syracuse University in 2016 for a campus promenade.

JEWISH CAUSES: Einhorn has given to the UJA Federation of New York, American Jewish Committee, and several other Jewish groups in recent years.

LOOKING AHEAD: It appears that health is a priority for Einhorn, particularly helping those with hearing trouble. As of now, this is not a funder that spreads his money around widely and there is no clear way to approach the Einhorns for support. But keep an eye on this philanthropically minded couple, with their long history of giving and, we suspect, significant assets that may eventually find their way to the charitable sector. 

CONTACT:

Einhorn Family Foundation
C/O BCRS Associates
77 Water St., 9th FL
New York, NY 10005
(212) 440-0800

NET WORTH: $4.3 billion

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Founder, Tiger Management

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Environment, Medical Research, Religion and Spirituality, Poverty

OVERVIEW: In 1989, Julian Robertson, Jr., a Giving Pledge signatory, started the Tiger Foundation, an organization that remains active today thanks to the tight-knit family of former Tiger employees and colleagues. Available tax filings reveal that the foundation awarded around $7 million in grants in 2017. In 1996, the late Robertson and wife Josie established the Robertson Foundation to begin allocating the family's assets to US based grantees. The foundation awarded $106 million in grants in 2017, according to available tax filings.

He also launched his third charitable organization, The Blanche and Julian Robertson Family Foundation (BJRFF), named after his parents. This foundation operates independently to improve quality of life in Robertson's birthplace of Salisbury, North Carolina. Available tax filings reveal that the foundation awarded around $700,000 in grants in 2018.

BACKGROUND: Julian Robertson was the retired manager of hedge fund Tiger Management. For over a decade, Robertson had been investing directly in other hedge funds, particularly those managed by “Tiger Cubs”--former traders and managers at Tiger Management. Retirement had also given Robertson the freedom to become an active philanthropist and benefactor. In 2010 he signed Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’s Giving Pledge, committing the majority of his wealth to charitable causes and donating a recorded $354 million from 2004-2008. Robertson died in August 2022.

ISSUES:

HEALTH: The Foundation gave $27 million to the New York Stem Cell Research Foundation in 2010, following a $10 million individual donation from Robertson himself.

ENVIRONMENT: Robertson has supported a wide range of environmental organizations, including EarthJustice, the National Parks Conservation Association, the World Resources Institute, and the Southern Environmental Law Center. Most of his funding in this area—over $31 million—went to the Environmental Defense Fund. Recently, climate change has become an important issue for Robertson as well.

EDUCATION: In late 2015, Robertson donated $3.5 million to his alma mater, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The Robertson Foundation also has its Reform from Within and Drive Change by Generating External Pressure initiatives, as well as Robertson's support for the New York City Charter School Center.

LOOKING FORWARD: It is unclear what will become of Robertson’s foundation following his death or whether he directed any of his money to charity in his will. As an individual, Robertson's philanthropic reach was broad. Above all, Robertson believed in "giving where it counts."

CONTACT: 

The Robertson Foundation

101 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10178,

LINKS:

Robertson Foundation

Tiger Foundation

NET WORTH: Unknown

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Zevenbergen Capital Investments

FUNDING AREAS: Religious, Education & Youth, Cancer Research

OVERVIEW: Nancy and John Zevenbergen move their philanthropy through the Anduin Foundation. The family support religious causes. Other interests include education and cancer research, driven by personal forces. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $836,000 in grants in 2018.

BACKGROUND: Nancy Zevenbergen graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance from University of Washington in 1981. She started her career at Rainier National Bank, beginning as a teller and working her way up to research analyst. In 1987, she launched Zevenbergen Capital Investments in Seattle, specializing in aggressive growth-equity investment advisory services for separately managed portfolios and mutual funds.

ISSUES: 

RELIGIOUS: The couple have directed large sums to North Sound Church of late. Other grantees have included Earl Palmer Ministries  and University Presbyterian Church.

EDUCATION & YOUTH: The Zevenbergens support University of Washington Foundation. They’ve also directed funds to Seattle Pacific Foundation, which supports Seattle Pacific University. Nancy is a longtime board member of Seattle Pacific Foundation. Other grantees have included Washington STEM and ZGiRLS, which equips “girls in sports with the tools and perspective they need to be confident, centered, and courageous.” It’s worth noting that Zevenbergen played collegiate basketball and her daughter Hayley was a Yale soccer player.

CANCER RESEARCH: The family direct steady funds to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. John’s father passed away from the disease.

OTHER: The Zevenbergens have also supported places like Cascadia Art Museum. They also appear to make grants in the realm of human services.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect the family to continue to steadily support their select interests. Women’s equity is another issue to keep an eye on for this funder. Zevenbergen has spoken about these issues before.

CONTACT:

Anduin Foundation
601 Union St, Ste 4600
Seattle, WA 98101 

LINK: Zevenbergen Capital Investments

NET WORTH: Unknown 

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Ellington Management Group

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Health, Human Services, Global 

OVERVIEW: Mike Vranos and family move their philanthropy through the Vranos Family Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $1.26 million in grants in 2017. The family's giving centers around the Northeast, particularly Connecticut. Vranos has given some of his largest gifts to Harvard, in support of stem cell and life sciences research. 

BACKGROUND: Raised in Ellington, Connecticut, Michael W. Vranos began his Wall Street career in 1983, after graduating from Harvard University. Vranos was the senior managing director of Kidder Peabody in charge of RMBS trading. In 1994 he founded Ellington Management Group, an investment and advisory firm based in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, where he serves as CEO. 

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: Vranos has strongly supported his alma mater Harvard. Much of this giving has revolved around the life sciences and the family steadily funds stem cell research at Harvard. As Vranos puts it, "Most of our giving has been directed to the life sciences, because I believe this area of research will have the most direct impact on helping humanity in the future, possibly more so than other physical sciences." Through the years, the Vranoses have established the Michael and Anna Vranos Graduate Fellowship Fund in the Life Sciences, the Vranos Family Junior Faculty Development Fund for Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, and the Vranos Family Graduate Research Fellowship in Developmental and Regenerative Biology. Aside from Harvard, the family has also supported The UConn Foundation, and Dartmouth College.

On the K-12 front, the Vranos family has strongly supported Chicago Hope Academy, Hopkins School, and Boys & Girls Harbor, where Vranos sits on the board of directors. Other grantees have included Adam J. Lewis Preschool, East Harlem Tutorial Program, Teach for America, Squash Haven, Waterside School, and Ellington Community Scholarship Association. 

HEALTH: Apart from the life sciences research that the Vranoses help fund at Harvard, another interest appears to be brain/neurological and behavioral disorders. Vranos Family Foundation grantees have included ALS Association, Autism Speaks, INSPIRE for Autism, and NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. 

HUMAN SERVICES: Vranos serves on the board of Hedge Funds Care, which the family has supported. Other grantees include City Harvest, Bridgeport Rescue Mission, CT Food Bank, and CT Prize, a social venture competition targeting poverty problems.

GLOBAL: A component of this family's philanthropy involves international organizations like Doctors Without Borders, buildON, Heifer International, Refugees International, and Smile Train. 

LOOKING FORWARD: The Vranos family's life sciences work at Harvard should be watched carefully. Perhaps other stem cell research away from Vranos' alma mater will be more robustly supported down the line. 

CONTACT:

The Vranos Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family but below is an address:

The Vranos Family Foundation

53 Forest Ave., 2nd Fl.

Old Greenwich, CT 06870

LINK:

Ellington Management Group

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Paulson & Co., short-selling subprime mortgages

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Maternal Health, Community Development

OVERVIEW: The Paulson Family Foundation was launched by billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson in 2008 and, according to available tax filings, awarded $22 million in grants in a recent year. Currently, the foundation is worth more than $1.9 billion, and Paulson has slowly begun to distribute that money.

BACKGROUND: Paulson grew up in New York and graduated from NYU with a degree in finance. He later attended Harvard Business School. He started his career as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group, and later took a position at Bear Stearns before starting his own firm. Most of his money was earned betting against the mortgage-backed securities market in 2007.

ISSUES: 

EDUCATION: Paulson’s biggest donation in education has gone to Harvard, where he has contributed well over $400 million. He gave $100 million to NYU in 2022, and he has also given more than $11 million to the Spence School and $3.7 million to the London School of Economics. Paulson recently gave $8.5 million to Success Academy as it opens new middle schools in New York City. Paulson also has another philanthropic vehicle, the J & J Independent Foundation, through which he has supported New Visions for Public Schools.

HEALTH: Paulson’s major contributions so far have been $15 million to build a maternity hospital in Ecuador, where his father was born, and $5 million to Southampton Hospital. 

ARTS & CULTURE:  In 2012, Paulson announced a $100 million gift to New York’s Central Park Conservancy, saying the park where he bikes and jogs almost every day is “fundamental to the economic and cultural health of New York City.” He has also made several small contributions, generally in the $10,000-$100,000 range, to a number of museums and to various Jewish cultural groups in the city. Paulson gave $15 million to Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2021.

COMMUNITY: Paulson has given to several community organizations in New York City such as the Boy Scouts, Harlem Children’s Zone, the 92nd Street YMCA, and the Robin Hood Foundation. Many of these organizations combat poverty. He also funds organizations that support programs for the elderly in New York and in Florida.

LOOKING FORWARD: Paulson is still relatively new to major philanthropy, and runs a bit behind other billionaires who have made their fortunes over the last decade.  His gift to the Central Park Conservancy may signal that he is ready to start making larger contributions, but it is still hard to tell what causes he may choose to support. From what we know so far, he will probably lean more toward giving grants to health, education, and religious organizations rather than running programs through his foundation. 

CONTACT:

Paulson Family Foundation

1251 Avenue of the Americas, Ste. 5

New York, New York 10020

NET WORTH: $11 billion

SOURCE of WEALTH: Appaloosa Management

FUNDING AREAS: Education, Hunger, Health, Jewish Causes

OVERVIEW: David Tepper supports education, hunger and poverty, health and Jewish Causes through the David Tepper Charitable Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded a little over $26 million in grants in a recent year.

BACKGROUND: David Tepper holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon. Early in his career, he worked at Equibank, Republic Steel and Keystone Mutual Funds. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1985 and rose to a managerial rank. After failing to make partner at Goldman, he founded his own firm, Appaloosa Management, which became one of the highest-earning hedge funds of the 2010’s. Tepper is the owner of the Carolina Panthers football team.

ISSUES:  

EDUCATION: A large share of Tepper’s education philanthropy has been directed toward Carnegie Mellon University. In 2003, Tepper gave $55 million to the university’s business school, which was renamed the Tepper School of Business. In 2013, he gave another $67 million for the creation of the Tepper Quadrangle, an “innovation hub” designed to promote collaboration between Carnegie Mellon’s seven schools. Other higher education grantees include the University of Pittsburgh and Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of Arts. In his home state of New Jersey, Tepper and his former colleague Alan Fournier founded Better Education for Kids, which advocates for education reform in the state. Tepper has also supported Teach for America and the Harlem Children’s Zone. Baylor University received $1 million gift from the foundation in 2020.

HUNGER & POVERTY: Tepper serves on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation, which aims to “improve the living standards for 1.8 million low-income New Yorkers.” His foundation has supported the outfit steadily over the years and gave it $1.3 million in 2019. The Tepper Foundation has supported food access and distribution efforts, with grants going to national antipoverty organizations like United Way, Feeding America and ReFED, which works to cut food loss and waste in support of national and international goals. Other past grantees addressing hunger include the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, Feeding America and the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Tepper also serves on the board of Blue Meridian Partners and has committed at least $50 million to the organization.

HEALTH: Tepper supports health broadly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tepper contributed around $25 million to relief efforts, particularly focused on food distribution in North Carolina and New Jersey in partnership with Feeding America, which has received millions from the foundation. Past grantees include the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, the Charlotte COVID-19 Response Fund, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 

JEWISH CAUSES: Tepper has supported Jewish organizations including the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest New Jersey, Jewish Federation of North America, Jewish Federation of Metrowest, and the Anti-Defamation League.

LOOKING FORWARD: Tepper is likely to continue his support of organizations involved in education reform and hunger in New York and New Jersey, and will continue to increase his giving in Florida, now that the family has relocated there.

CONTACT: 

The David Tepper Charitable Foundation
c/o Appaloosa 51 JFK Pkwy, No 250B  
Livingston, NJ 07078
(931) 701-7000 

NET WORTH: $680 million

SOURCE OF WEALTH: D.E. Shaw

FUNDING AREAS: Human Services, (STEM) Education

OVERVIEW: Anne Dinning and her family conduct philanthropy through the Corabelle Lumps Foundation, which lacks transparency and does not maintain a website, restricting information about its grantmaking guidelines. Available tax filings indicate that the foundation awarded around $5.6 million in grants to just two organizations in 2018. The Robin Hood Foundation received a $4.87 million grant that year and Partners in Health received a $750,000 award. Dinning is on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation.

BACKGROUND: Anne Dinning was born in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington in 1984 and received her Ph.D. in computer science New York University. She became an early employee of the D. E. Shaw group, a specialized investment and technology development firm, and is a managing director of D.E. Shaw & Co., and a member of the executive committee of D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P. and D. E. Shaw & Co., LLC.

ISSUES:

HUMAN SERVICES: Anne Dinning serves as vice chair of the board of directors of Robin Hood Foundation, which the family has given over $20 million, including $5.5 million alone in a recent fiscal year. She is also a member of the board of directors of Partners In Health, which helps provide medical care to patients in poor communities around the world, and she has given millions to the organization over the years.

(STEM) EDUCATION: Anne Dinning supports her alma mater University of Washington, including its School of Computer Science and Engineering, home to the Anne Dinning - Michael Wolf Endowed Regental Fellowship. She’s also supported College Success Foundation. Dinning serves on the board of directors of Math for America, a non-profit organization focused on improving mathematics education in U.S. public secondary schools.

LOOKING FORWARD: Only in her 60s, Dinning is one of the richest women in the U.S. She has given quite a bit of money to Robin Hood Foundation. Perhaps she will deepen her interests through her foundation in the coming years.

CONTACT:

The Corabelle Lumps Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the family but below is an address:

Corabelle Lumps Foundation
321 Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
(518) 886-4215

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Ziff-Davis, Ziff Brothers Investments, Och-Ziff Capital Management

FUNDING AREAS: Performing Arts, Conservation, New York

OVERVIEW: Daniel and Leslie Ziff support performing arts, conservation and New York City causes through the Leslie and Daniel Ziff Foundation. Available tax filings indicate that the foundation did not make any grant awards in 2018 and awarded $250,000 in grants in 2017.

BACKGROUND: Daniel Ziff is a graduate of Columbia University. He is the youngest of the three Ziff brothers who inherited the Ziff Davis media fortune in 1994. The brothers established Ziff Brothers Investments and significantly increased their inherited fortunes. Leslie Ziff holds a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts. The couple is divorced.

ISSUES:

PERFORMING ARTS: Daniel Ziff is a longtime supporter of performing arts in New York City. He began supporting Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1997, and since then his gifts to the institution have increased to about $1 million each year. Leslie Ziff has served on the board of trustees of the American Ballet Theater and Rosie’s Theater Kids, Rosie O’Donnell’s performing arts program for students from New York City’s “neediest elementary schools.” Additional past grantees include Mark DeGarmo Dance, the Polaris Dance Theatre, Sing for Hope, the New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Opera.

CONSERVATION: The Ziffs broadly invest in environmental organizations. They have supported the National Audubon Society, Conservation International, and the National Resources Defense Council.

NEW YORK: The Leslie and Daniel Ziff Foundation is a regular supporter of a variety of New York City-based organizations. Past grantees include the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the New York Blood Center, Volunteers of America of Greater New York, the Central Park Conservancy, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York City, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy.

LOOKING FORWARD: The fate of the Leslie and Daniel Ziff foundation is unclear in light of the couple’s divorce.

CONTACT:

The Leslie and Daniel Ziff Foundation
350 Park Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10222