Eli Broad (born June 6, 1933) a native of Detroit, Michigan is an American billionaire who lives in Los Angeles, California. His last name is pronounced as rhyming with road. Broad is well known for his philanthropy and extensive art collection. A strong advocate of the city, he is actively involved in the on-going projects to revitalize downtown Los Angeles, and is an ardent supporter of efforts to raise the city's cultural profile. Broad made his initial fortune in real estate at his company Kaufmann & Broad (now KB Home). He is also a founder of the financial giant SunAmerica. He was CEO of SunAmerica, now a subsidiary of the American International Group, until the year 2000. With an estimated current net worth of around $5.8 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 42-richest person in America.
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Philanthropy
In 1991, Broad endowed the Eli Broad College of Business at his alma mater Michigan State University, from which he graduated cum laude in 1954. The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was founded with a $100 million donation to MIT from Broad and his wife, Edythe, in 2003. In 2005, the couple donated another $100 million to Harvard. Eli and Edythe Broad are the founders of The Broad Foundation, which states as its mission "to dramatically improve K-12 urban public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition." In May 2007, the Broad Foundation donated $ 10 million dollars to Gertz-Ressler High School, a public charter school in the Los Angeles area. On April 25th, 2007, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation joined forces with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledging a joint $60 million to create Strong American Schools, a nonprofit project responsible for running Ed in 08, an information and initiative campaign aimed at encouraging 2008 presidential contenders to include education in their campaign policies. [1] The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation gave $60 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as part of LACMA's renovation campaign to create the Broad Contemporary Art Museum. Mr. Broad also serves on LACMA's Board of Directors. [2] On June 1st, 2007 Eli and Edythe Broad pledged $26 million to Michigan State University for construction of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. [3] He is also a member of the California Institute of Technology Board of Trustees and endowed the Broad Center there.
Trivia
- In November of 1994, Broad purchased Roy Lichtenstein's "I...I'm Sorry" for $2.5 million USD at a Sotheby's auction, paid with his American Express credit card, and thereby earned 2.5 million frequent flyer miles.
References
- ^ Billionaires Start $60 Million Schools Effort
- ^ Boehm, Mike (March 6, 2007), "BP gives $25 million to LACMA: The BP donation will go toward a solar entrance that the British oil firm hopes will invoke energy innovation.", Los Angeles Times, <http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-lacma6mar06,0,1254648.story?coll=cl-calendar>
- ^ MSU receives $26 million from Eli and Edythe Broad for new art museum
