The Biggest Gifts Announced by Individuals in 1997
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
January 15, 1998 | Read Time: 1 minute
| Who | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Ted Turner, founder of Cable News Network | $1-Billion | To create a foundation to support United Nations programs dealing with humanitarian causes, the environment, and international-relief efforts |
| Kathryn Albertson, widow of the supermarket-chain founder Joe Albertson | $660-million in stock | To their foundation in Boise, Idaho. |
| George Soros, financier | $300-million to $500-million | For a broad array of programs to benefit Russia. |
| Nina Mason Pulliam, widow of Eugene Pulliam, founder of Central Newspapers | $269-million bequest | To establish a fund that will support groups in Arizona and Indiana |
| Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, and his wife, Melinda | $200-million | To establish the Gates Library Foundation |
| Leonard Abramson, a health-insurance executive, and his wife, Madlyn | $100-million | To establish a cancer-research institute at the University of Pennsylvania. |
| Michael Eisner, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, and his wife, Jane | $89-million in Walt Disney Company stock | To the Eisner Foundation in Beverly Hills, Cal. |
| Enid Goodrich, widow of Pierre Goodrich, a businessman | $80-million bequest | To the Library Fund, an Indianapolis educational group that seeks to encourage social responsibility. |
| Harry A. Toulmin, a pharmaceutical executive | $67-million trust from his estate | To the Georgetown University Medical Center. (The university will receive the trust upon the death of Mr. Toulmin’s widow, Virginia.) |
| Dwight D. Opperman, publishing magnate and investor | $50-million | To Drake University in Des Moines, for its capital campaign. |
