Billionaire Philanthropist Makes Giving a Family Tradition

Ronald O. Perelman, the billionaire founder of MacAndrews & Forbes, a holding company in New York, and the chairman of Revlon, says his philanthropy, which included $63.5-million in gifts and pledges last year, is part of a family tradition.

Its roots go back to Mr. Perelman’s parents, Raymond G. and Ruth Perelman, who themselves have given tens of millions of dollars to nonprofit organizations, including the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Like his son Ronald, the elder Mr. Perelman, chairman of RGP Holding, is a University of Pennsylvania alumnus.)

The Perelmans instilled in their two sons an obligation to give to charitable causes, something Ronald Perelman says has been more of a challenge for him to instill in his own six children, who range in age from 14 to 40.

“There are more diversions for kids today than we had, so it’s harder to grab their attention to say, ‘OK, here’s something you should be doing with your time.’ When I was a kid, the girls were all candy stripers at hospitals. Now that’s almost unheard of,” he says.

The Next Generation

Yet Mr. Perelman reports with visible pride that his daughter Debra, 35, is starting to get involved in philanthropy, while his youngest daughter, Caleigh, 14, has taken up her father’s giving tradition with zeal. When Caleigh was bat mitzvahed last year, she told relatives and friends that she wanted no gifts. Instead she and another sister, Samantha, established the Claudia Cohen Cancer Research Foundation, named for Samantha’s mother, and asked those attending the celebration to donate to the fund, which they did to the tune of $250,000.

Mr. Perelman says he plans to make some of his donations to cancer-research causes through that foundation; Caleigh and Samantha, who are trustees of the fund, will help direct its grant making.