Los Angeles’s Powerful Broad Foundation Names New President

Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad has named longtime staff member Gerun Riley as president of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. In a letter released Friday, the 83-year-old billionaire businessman also signaled his continuing commitment to the foundation’s three grant-making priorities: education, scientific and medical research, and the arts.

“Gerun is smart, loyal, and passionate about our philanthropic work,” Mr. Broad said. “We have the highest confidence in her abilities, and our 10-member board of governors is in agreement that Gerun has the vision and leadership to carry forward our foundation’s work.”

Ms. Riley replaces Bruce Reed, a one-time chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, who was named to lead the foundation in late 2013 and announced his departure in July 2015. Mr. Reed earned a salary of $595,240, according to the foundation’s 2014 Form 990-PF, the most recent available.

The Broad Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Chronicle about the appointment.

Art Patron

The announcement puts Ms. Riley at the helm of one of the most powerful private foundations in the country. It had total assets of $1.9 billion in 2014, according to its tax filings.

Even in a monied Southern California landscape dotted with names like Annenberg and Getty, Mr. Broad and his wife, Edythe, have distinguished themselves as prolific and high-profile donors.

In September 2015, for example, they opened the doors to the Broad, a museum housing their contemporary-art collection across the street from the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall in booming downtown Los Angeles. A year later, admissions lines for the free-entry institution are still wrapped around the building. Financed by the couple, the Broad cost about $140 million to construct and has an endowment of more than $200 million, the foundation told the Los Angeles Times.

Supporting Charter Schools

But while Mr. Broad may have secured his legacy as one of Los Angeles’ great art patrons, his work on education rankles many. The foundation says it has spent more than $144 million to accelerate the proliferation of charter schools in Los Angeles and across the country, work fiercely criticized by some teachers unions.

Mr. Broad is currently listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as the 175th richest person in the world with a net worth of $7.4 billion. In 1957, he co-founded what would become KB Home, now one of the biggest homebuilding companies in the country. He made a big addition to his empire in 1971 when he bought Sun Life Insurance (now SunAmerica), which was sold nearly three decades later for $18 billion.

In announcing Ms. Riley’s appointment, Mr. Broad noted that she had started at the foundation in 2003, working her way up from “an entry-level administrative position.” She worked on the foundation’s organizational strategy and governance, its architecture competition to design the Broad, and construction of the museum itself. She also worked on the Broad Prize for Urban Education.

Note: This article has been corrected to say that Ms. Riley worked on the foundation’s organizational strategy and governance and the Broad Prize for Urban Education. She didn’t oversee or manage them.