Broads will give away 75% of wealth

16 June 2010 - by ArtfixDaily Staff

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Eli and Edythe Broad

(The Broad Institute)

Leading Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad, and his wife, Edythe, yesterday stated they will pledge 75% of their considerable wealth to charity during and after their lifetime.

The Broads are publicly responding to “The Giving Pledge,” a drive instigated by billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, to encourage ultra-rich Americans to give at least 50 percent of their wealth to charitable causes. Buffett says he's giving away 99% of his fortune, according to Fortune magazine.

A bit of the Broad money has already been pledged. According to Bloomberg, $600 million has been gifted to establish the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Education, scientific and medical research and the arts have gotten in excess of $2 billion.

Another big commitment is Broad's new museum to house his contemporary art collection. Reports say he is still leaning toward the firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro to build in downtown Los Angeles, on Grand Ave.

Broad will give $100 million to build the museum, plus $200 million to endow it. However, he wants the city and county to approve a 99-year lease on the land for $1 a year. The competing city of Santa Monica offered the same terms for a site in its civic center, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The final decision on the museum's architect and location will be made this month.

Mr. Broad was the founding chairman and is a life trustee of The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which he bailed-out for $30 million in 2008, and he is a trustee of The Museum of Modern Art in New York and vice chairman of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Correction: The article incorrectly stated the Broad fortune at $47 billion.

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