Large Bequest to Hewlett Fund to Make It Among the Wealthiest in United States

By HARVY LIPMAN

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation could soon become one of the nation’s five wealthiest foundations, with assets of $9-billion, due to the death this month of its founder. The foundation, created by the co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company, was worth $3.7-billion as of the end of 2000.

William Hewlett, who died in his sleep at age 87, left the foundation a bequest of stock in Agilent Technologies as well as securities from his own company. The gift to the foundation is a substantial share of Mr. Hewlett’s total estate — Forbes magazine listed his net worth last year at $9-billion. Though the exact amount of the infusion of new dollars depends on the value of those stocks when Mr. Hewlett’s estate is settled within the next 12 to 18 months, it seems likely that the foundations created by computer hardware and software magnates will soon dominate the top tier of wealthy foundations.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation became the third-largest foundation in the United States in March 1998, when it received $5.4-billion worth of Hewlett-Packard stock from David Packard’s bequest, after he died in 1996. The foundation is now worth $9.8-billion.

The biggest foundation is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, worth $21-billion; another foundation soon to become one of the largest was created by the co-founder of Intel, Gordon Moore. Mr. Moore and his wife have pledged $5-billion for their new fund.

$500-Million a Year

As Mr. Hewlett’s bequest flows to his fund, grant making is likely to increase rapidly. Paul Brest, president of the foundation, said he expects that grant making will rise to nearly $500-million annually. Last year Hewlett made nearly $135-million in grants.

The Hewlett Foundation makes grants in a wide range of program areas. In its most recent response to The Chronicle‘s annual survey of foundation grant making, the foundation listed arts and culture, conflict resolution, education, environmental issues, and population control as the top areas where it focuses.

Nancy Strausser, assistant to Mr. Brest, said the foundation has not decided whether its expanded assets will be used to increase spending in those areas or to branch out into new programs.

“We’ll look at all of those possibilities,” she said.

Foundation staff members have been involved for some time in developing ideas for how best to spend the increased sums that Mr. Hewlett had pledged upon his death. She said that while grant making would rise, the foundation has no plans to expand the foundation’s staff beyond the 45 it has now.

Mr. Hewlett has been succeeded as chairman of the foundation by his son Walter. Mr. Hewlett’s first wife, Flora, died in 1977.