1. TED TURNER–Total 1997 donations and pledges: more than $1 billion.This includes a pledge of $100 million annually for 10 years (for a total of $1 billion) to the UNITED NATIONS (New York). The money–roughly equivalent to the annual U.N. budget–will be used to establish a foundation to benefit U.N. programs helping refugees and children, clearing land mines, fighting disease, and doing research into global warming. Turner told CNN interviewer Larry King that he had always been drawn to the United Nations. “All for one and one for all, you know,” he said. “I loved that Coca-Cola commercial where all the kids got on the mountaintop and sang, ‘We are the world.’ ” Turner said he had decided to give away $1 billion on the spur of the moment, after finding that his net worth had risen from $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion since January ‘97. Former Sen. and Undersecretary of State Tim Wirth, D-Colo., is in charge of the foundation that will administer the gift. Also: $4.5 million in pledges to 200 different ENVIRONMENTAL AND POPULATION-RELATED ORGANIZATIONS. In early March, Peter Bahouth, executive director of the Turner Foundation, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the foundation will increase its giving from about $18 million in 1997 to $25 million in 1998. At present, the foundation focuses on issues of urban sprawl, inner-city development, air quality, and land use. Other priorities include limiting population growth and teen pregnancy as well as protecting water resources, forests, and other natural habitats.
2. GEORGE SOROS–Total 1997 contributions: $530.5 million. This includes $25 million over the next five years to combat social problems in the CITY OF BALTIMORE. The money will be used to establish a branch of the Open Society Institute and to make grants in areas similar to those Soros has already supported, such as care of the dying, education, job creation, and illegal-drug policies. “Baltimore is a good site. It has a supportive local government,” said Soros, whose foundation is the largest donor for needle-exchange programs in the country. Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke has called for decriminalization of drug use, arguing that the only way to deal with drug addiction is to treat it as a public-health problem. If the office is successful, similar programs might be established in other cities across the country, Gara LaMarche, director of U.S. programs for the Open Society Institute, said. Also: $1 million for NEEDLE-EXCHANGE PROGRAMS to help heroin and cocaine addicts who risk contracting AIDS and other diseases by sharing needles. (Soros’ Emma Lazarus Fund also transferred $11.8 million to 22 advocacy groups to help legal immigrants become citizens, but that amount was covered by the $50-million pledge Soros was credited with on the Slate 60 1996 list.) Other contributions include $4.5 million to the ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION (N.Y.) and $500 million to be spent over three years in RUSSIA, $100 million of which will be invested in public-health projects. Soros’ network of foundations in 31 countries provided as much as $17 million in grants and donations to health and medical programs in 1997.
3. BILL and MELINDA GATES–Total 1997 contributions: $242,875,492. $200 million to create the GATES LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Wash.), dedicated to bringing the Internet to U.S. and Canadian public libraries and the communities they serve. The foundation will provide public libraries in low-income communities with the computer hardware and software required for community access to the Internet. It will also provide support and training for public-library personnel throughout the United States and Canada. Click here to find out more about the Gates Library Foundation, which is headed by Patty Stonesifer, a former Microsoft executive. Also: $2.25 million to JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY (Md.) for family-planning programs in developing countries. The gift, made through the Gateses’ philanthropic foundation, will create the Family Planning Leadership Education Institute within the university’s school of public health. It will also subsidize the training of family-planning and reproductive-health professionals from developing countries. $1,125,492 to the FRIENDS OF MANDELA CHILDRENS’ FUND (South Africa). Another $1 million to the CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE OF SEATTLE; $20 million to CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY (England) for a new computer laboratory; $10 million as part of a joint $30-million challenge gift with Paul Allen and the McCaw family to LAKESIDE SCHOOL (Seattle), the donors’ alma mater, for education and construction; $1.8 million to ACCESS TO VOLUNTARY AND SAFE CONTRACEPTION (New York City); $1 million to the PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER (Seattle) for its extensive renovation project; $1.2 million to MULTISERVICE CENTERS (Bellevue, Wash.); $1 million to OPERATION SMILE (Norfolk, Va.); $3.5 million in other gifts of less than $1 million each. Bill Gates has said that he wants to focus his charitable giving on education, family planning, and access to technology.
4. LEONARD and MADLYN ABRAMSON–$100-million pledge to the UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA to establish a cancer-research institute. Leonard Abramson is the founder of U.S. Healthcare Inc., which was sold for $8.9 billion in 1996 to Aetna, creating the nation’s largest health-care conglomerate. The Abramson institute will be a division of th e university’s cancer center. Madlyn Abramson, who successfully battled breast cancer 12 years ago at the cancer center and will chair the new nine-member board, commented: “I guess maybe there is a theory that when bad things happen to the right people, good things happen from it. I hope this is the case.” The Abramsons have contributed to many causes, including cancer research, children’s medicine, and Jewish organizations.
5. MITCHELL WOLFSON JR.–$75.5 million, the estimated value of his private collection of art–“The Wolfsonian”–to FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY in Miami. A nonprofit research and exhibition center founded by Wolfson in 1986 was merged into the university at the time the gift was made. Wolfson is an international investor with major holdings in Miami and Genoa, Italy. He sold his father’s entertainment company, Wometco Enterprises, in 1984.
6. PHYLLIS WATTIS–Total 1997 contributions: $67 million. Gifts include: $20 million to the FINE ARTS MUSEUMS OF SAN FRANCISCO (including the M.H. DE YOUNG MEMORIAL MUSEUM and the CALIFORNIA PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR) for acquisitions and for a new facility for the de Young Museum. Another $20 million to the SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, where she is a lifetime trustee. $10 million to the CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, with the stipulation that the money be used to construct new buildings after its trustees decide whether the museum, aquarium, and research facility will remain in Golden Gate Park or move to a location in downtown San Francisco. $5 million to the SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE for its campaign to refurbish existing facilities, develop new buildings, increase academic support, and endow overall operations. The art institute recently held a Phyllis Wattis Day and presented her with a one-of-a-kind Phyllis Wattis doll made by students. Also: $5 million to the EXPLORATORIUM (San Francisco) for its capital campaign and for the “Live at the Exploratorium” program at its multimedia theater; $5 million to the UTAH MUSEUM OF ART in Wattis’ home state (she is the great-granddaughter of Brigham Young); $2 million to the BERKELEY MUSEUM OF ART (Calif.); $1.5 million to the SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY; and $1.5 million to the SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION, where she is a board member. Wattis served as president of the Paul L. and Phyllis Wattis Foundation until she dissolved it several years ago and distributed its assets–approximately $26 million–to various San Francisco-area institutions.
7. DWIGHT OPPERMAN–Total 1997 contributions: $53.5 million. $50 million to DRAKE UNIVERSITY (Iowa), the largest gift in the university’s history. Opperman is a 1951 Drake law graduate and a member of the universi ty’s board of governors. A former chairman and CEO of West Publishing Co., he is also a trustee of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Opperman stipulated that a portion of the gift be allocated as a challenge to alumni and friends of the Drake law school. The remainder will serve as a challenge to all other Drake alumni and friends on a 3-to-1 basis. The majority of the gift will be used to strengthen the university’s endowments in financial aid for undergraduate and law students, libraries, academic programs, and faculty development. Also: $3.5 million to the NYU school of law to support the Institute of Judicial Administration.
8. LESLIE and SUSAN GONDA–$45 million to the MAYO CLINIC (Minn.) from the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Foundation. The gift will enable the construction of the Leslie and Susan Gonda Building, a component of the Practice Integration Project (a series of major initiatives designed to transform the way Mayo provides medical care). This gift follows a 1992 donation that funded the Leslie and Susan Gonda Vascular Center at Mayo’s Methodist Hospital. The Gondas have also supported UCLA, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and other organizations and institutions.
9. STANLEY DRUCKENMILLER–$35.6 million to BOWDOIN COLLEGE (Maine), the largest gift in the school’s history. Druckenmiller is a 1975 graduate of Bowdoin, a member of the board of trustees, and a managing partner of Soros Fund Management. The entire gift was paid in 1997. Some $9 million will be used to renovate the century-old Searles Science Building. Previously, Druckenmiller funded two endowed professorships and contributed to the construction of the David Saul Smith Union.
10. EUGENE and MARY FREY–Total 1997 contributions: $34 million. Of this, $25 million went to the ST. PAUL FOU NDATION (Minn.) and $9 million to the CATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Freys are the former owners of the Waldorf Corp., which they sold last year.
