June 28, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Jon M. Huntsman Sr., a Utah businessman, and his wife, Karen, this week put $600-million into the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, and plan to eventually give away at least $1-billion, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.
The move came as a Dutch company agreed to buy the Huntsman Corporation, a chemical company that Mr. Huntsman founded, for $9.6-billion.
Most of the foundation’s money goes to support the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center.
Mr. Huntsman, 70, who survived both prostate and mouth cancer and whose parents both died of the disease, has previously given a total of $225-million to the institute, which takes a genetics-based approach to cancer research.
In addition to the $600-million worth of Huntsman stock the couple donated to their cancer foundation, the Huntsmans plan to donate another $800- to $900-million in stock, as well as several hundred million dollars more in real-estate holdings, said Mr. Huntsman’s assistant, Jannie Spader, also the communications coordinator for the company’s Salt Lake City office.
Undoubtedly some of that will flow into the cancer institute, but Ms. Spader said that the couple will also support scholarships, education, and fighting homelessness.
The Huntsmans say they have donated a total of about $500-million in their lifetimes before making the commitment they announced this week.
Besides supporting the cancer foundation, they have donated $20-million for relief and rebuilding efforts after a 1988 earthquake in Armenia, and gave $1-million to build a domestic-violence shelter at the Salt Lake City YWCA.
Mr. Huntsman ranked No. 242 last year on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 richest Americans, which estimated he was worth $1.5-billion last year.
Mr. Huntsman founded the his Salt Lake City corporation, which makes chemicals for adhesives, aerospace, electronics, paints, and other products, in 1982.
On Tuesday, Basell, a chemical maker based in the Netherlands but owned by an American company, agreed to buy all of Huntsman Corporation’s common stock at $25.25 per share, and complete the deal in the fourth quarter of this year.
The Huntsmans’ son Peter will continue to serve as chief executive of Huntsman Corporation. Another son, Jon Huntsman Jr., is governor of Utah.
