February 10, 2013 | Read Time: 1 minute
Amount donated in 2012: $140-million
Beneficiary: Elkhart County Community Foundation
Background: Mr. Gundlach founded Hastings Direct, an auto-insurance company he sold in 2006 to Insurance Australia Group for more than $220-million.
Mr. Gundlach, who was 56 when he died in 2011, left $140-million, the bulk of his estate, to the Elkhart County Community Foundation and said the organization could use the money for any purpose. He also left a collection of about 15 works of art, including paintings by Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir and sculptures by Salvador Dali. Foundation officials said the organization has no plans to sell the artworks and intends to display some of the collection.
The foundation’s president, Peter McCown, said the bequest came as a shock since no one in Elkhart, Mr. Gundlach’s hometown, knew much about the donor’s wealth, including Mr. Gundlach’s mother, Marge Swift.
While Mr. Gundlach grew up in Elkhart, he left after high school to attend college in California. He graduated from Chapman College in 1979 and moved to England, where he spent 15 years working in technology at the British insurance company, Lloyd’s of London, before establishing Hastings Direct. He then divided his time among homes in California, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, and Gibraltar.
“Really, this is a gift to his hometown,” said Mr. McCown. The foundation is seeking advice from Elkhart residents and other grant makers about how to spend the donation, the largest it has ever received.
Mr. Gundlach was not involved with the foundation during most of his lifetime. He came to know about its work through a trusted high-school friend, Liz Borger, who once served on the board. He included the foundation in his will in 2009 and in 2011 donated $100,000 to the organization.
