Young Tech Donors Take Leading Role in Philanthropy 50
Twelve of America’s most generous donors, including Jan Koum, the 38-year-old founder of the messaging company WhatsApp, are in Silicon Valley and beyond, and many are under 40.
By Alex Daniels and Maria Di Mento
The Napstar co-founder gave $550-million, of which $24-million will establish an allergy research center at Stanford University.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Twelve of America’s most generous donors are in Silicon Valley and beyond, and many are under 40.
New S.F. Hospital Gets $75-Million From Zuckerberg and Chan
The gift from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, will fund critical equipment and advanced medical technology at San Francisco General Hospital’s new building, set to open at the end of the year, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Soros and Feeney Funds Backed Calif. Measure on Drug Charges
Private philanthropies contributed several million dollars to last fall’s successful campaign for Proposition 47, a California ballot measure to reduce drug-possession and minor-theft charges to misdemeanors, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In Beverly Hills, Gifts Put Names on Public-School Grounds
The Los Angeles Times writes about the Beverly Hill Unified School District’s sale of naming rights to campus facilities, an uncommon practice for a public-school system and one that has ignited a spat between two area real estate agents.
Donor Leaves $20-Million Endowment to N.C. Community Fund
Louise Oriole Burevitch, who died in September at age 97, left a $20-million endowment to be administered by the North Carolina Community Foundation, Triangle Business Journal writes.
Verizon Donates $50-Million for Cornell’s NYC Tech Campus
The telecommunications company’s name will adorn a hub building at Cornell University technology campus, now under construction on an East River island, the Ithaca Journal and Forbes write.
$20-Million Gift Kicks Off Centre College Fundraising Drive
The Kentucky liberal-arts college received an anonymous $20-million donation to support a new scholarship program and announced a $200-million campaign aimed at recouping much of a planned mega-gift Centre lost in 2013, reports the Associated Press.
Charities Rethinking Donor’s Ties Amid Sex Scandal
Some past beneficiaries of Jeffrey Epstein’s philanthropy say they would decline future gifts from the financier in the wake of allegations that he trafficked an underage girl for sex with Britain’s Prince Andrew and other prominent figures, according to Reuters.
Stanford U. Gets $50-Million Gates Grant for Vaccine Work
The 10-year-grant announced Friday by the university and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help establish a new Stanford center focused on harnessing the immune system to develop inoculations for AIDS, malaria, and other deadly diseases, reports Reuters.
Obituary: Carroll Petrie, N.Y. Patron of Arts and Medicine
The prominent socialite, who gave hundreds of millions of dollars to hospitals, cultural institutions, and other causes, died at her Manhattan home January 22 at age 90, The New York Times reported Sunday.
$7.5-Billion Pledged to Vaccinate Children Worldwide
The GAVI Alliance said Tuesday that governments and private donors have committed $7.54-billion to its campaign to inoculate 300 million children in poor countries against deadly diseases over the next five years, with longtime backer Bill Gates pledging $1.55-billion, Reuters reports.
Shuttered City Opera’s Board OKs $1.25-Million Reboot Bid
The board of New York City Opera has approved an investor group’s proposal to revive the nonprofit company, which shut down after declaring bankruptcy in 2013, reports The Wall Street Journal.
2015 Gates Letter Foresees Unprecedented Gains for Poor
The lives of the world’s poorest people will improve more in the next 15 years “than at any time in history,” Bill and Melinda Gates assert in their annual letter laying out priorities for their $42-billion foundation, the Associated Press and The Washington Post report.
Bloomberg Launches $48-Million Clean-Energy Effort
Bloomberg Philanthropies and California climate activists Mark Heising and Elizabeth Simons will fund the effort to help states and localities speed their transition to cleaner energy sources, The Hill and The New York Times write.