Why and how Eli Broad is giving billions away

(CBS News) 

In this era of belt tightening, it's kind of refreshing to take a look at people whose happiest pastime is to give money away. Such a man is 77-year-old Eli Broad, a self-made billionaire, art collector and for the past ten years one of the most consistently generous philanthropists in America - supporting education reform, medical research and the arts. Broad also wants to transform that sprawling monster of a city Los Angeles into a cultural capital.

Broad thinks big, but his critics say he can act very small: that he may give billions away, but that he tries to micromanage almost every dollar he gives. Broad doesn't really care what they say - all he wants to do is die poor. Well, relatively poor.

"I believe in two things: One, Andrew Carnegie said, 'He who dies with wealth dies in shame.' And someone once said, 'He who gives while he lives also knows where it goes,'" Broad told "60 Minutes" correspondent Morley Safer.

There's no one quite so civic minded in America. Broad and his wife Edye have become paparazzi pets because of the money they lavish on Los Angeles, so far more than half a billion dollars.

Behold his footprint on Los Angeles. He's a driving force behind 16 major public institutions. In the center of downtown, there is a cultural corridor, anchored by the magnificent Disney Hall, home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Next to it is the home of the Los Angeles Opera, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The High School for the Performing Arts, and The School of Music.

In greater Los Angeles, three scientific research centers, a theatre, an art center, and another contemporary art museum are supported by Broad. He puts his name on almost all of them.

Extra: Investing in science
Extra: Eli and Edye Broad's "joint venture"
Extra: A peek at the art collection

"You said that your sense of being a wealthy man actually increased the more you gave money away?" Safer asked.

"I think it's true," he replied. "I don't feel I'm here to just maintain the status quo. I'm here to make things better or different."

"And you want the world to know about it by putting your name on all the things you do support?" Safer asked.

"I don't keep it a secret, that's for sure," Broad replied.

Broad took us to Grand Avenue, which he plans to transform into a vibrant city center, rivaling New York's Museum Mile.

Disney Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, almost did not get built. Broad rescued the project by putting up his own money and putting the squeeze on fellow plutocrats.

"It's really become the symbol of our city," Broad told Safer.

And then there's his own museum, The Broad. It's still a parking lot right now, but it will eventually hold his $1.6 billion art collection.

"How much is this going to cost...something approaching a billion dollars?" Safer asked.

"More," Broad said.

Safer and Broad were interrupted by an Angeleno driving by: "Eli, buy the Dodgers. Buy the Dodgers," the man said to Broad from his car.

"'Eli buy the Dodgers.' You could be the George Steinbrenner of Los Angeles?" Safer asked.

"Oh, no, no, no. I've got enough on my plate," he replied.

Broad runs his philanthropic foundation like a for-profit business, not a charity. Charity he says, is just writing checks. He practices what he calls venture philanthropy.

"We don't give it away, we invest it. And we want a return. Remember, I started work as a CPA, so that gave me fiscal discipline in everything I did in business. I guess some of it carries over to philanthropy," he explained.

Produced by Ruth Streeter

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[legacyABQ2]

What a loser

[Dewey6868]

Funny, Kaufman and Broad ( his former company) for years was known for building homes that where, by many standards, inferior. The lawsuits by homeowners against K&B where many and numerous back in Broad's days. It was common knowledge back then as a subcontractor, you where taking you business life in your hands by doing work for them since they where notorious for SLOW paying their subcontractors. I am sure, and knew a few of them, had to go out of business due to the painfully slow payments or least that is what I was told. Things might have changed now, but it was disgusting to see this egotistical, narcissistic man being put on a pedestal simply because he has money some of which may have been unfairly made at the expense of others. By his own admission, he was not a good father nor did he apologize for that short coming rather he was more concerned having his name plastered all over the place I suppose to immortalized his name and to feed his massive ego. I suppose if one has been successful and become wildly rich as Broad has, you must have a certain amount of ego but in his case, it was painful to watch the program knowing some of the history and painful to watch those slobbering over him in order to receive grants and gifts to further their personal interest in the name of art or whatever.

[Dewey6868]

Funny, Kaufman and Broad ( his former company) for years was known for building homes that where, by many standards, inferior. The lawsuits by homeowners against K&B where many and numerous back in Broad's days. It was common knowledge back then as a subcontractor, you where taking you business life in your hands by doing work for them since they where notorious for SLOW paying their subcontractors. I am sure, and knew a few of them, had to go out of business due to the painfully slow payments or least that is what I was told. Things might have changed now, but it was disgusting to see this egotistical, narcissistic man being put on a pedestal simply because he has money some of which may have been unfairly made at the expense of others. By his own admission, he was not a good father nor did he apologize for that short coming rather he was more concerned having his name plastered all over the place I suppose to immortalized his name and to feed his massive ego. I suppose if one has been successful and become wildly rich as Broad has, you must have a certain amount of ego but in his case, it was painful to watch the program knowing some of the history and painful to watch those slobbering over him in order to receive grants and gifts to further their personal interest in the name of art or whatever.

[ecohealth2003]

I empathize with pain expressed here. I have it too.
But anger & judgement cannot produce what we need.

People make explorations, there are choices.
There are always consequences.
Fear often guides thoughts & resultant actions.
As long as there is fear, small agendas,
the best choices will not be made.
It is often difficult for investors to evaluate
what is worth doing & supporting.
Usually they or the 'experts' they hire to evaluate for them
are often motivated by 'money first, money only':
'How can I make the most & give the least.'
They make the game,
they get grumpy when others don't want to play,
but they do not know how to make the goals.

Marketing, persuading people what to invest in
is not where we need to put attention & skills.
Helping people to WANT to change ways of thinking is crucial.

From the ages of 16 - 24, my husband worked as an architect,
for other firms. The firm's owners were acknowledged,
but the person who did the work, who achieved the goals,
went unacknowledged.

From his 20's - 60's, as a physicist, my husband pioneered
numerous medical & life essential technologies.
But what is used today is far less than it could be -
decision makers funding further developments
chose 'simplification by arbitrary elimination'.

The patenting system was designed to progress innovation,
by building upon historical efforts, not to give people credit.
Hubby's name should have been on patents.
But, as with architecture, usually the person
who owned a company or provided funding
received credit, not the actual scientist or inventor.
Many claims, but little understanding of what it takes to achieve excellence.

We are told that history repeats itself.
But we all lose, when the ability to build upon breakthroughs
of the past (in both thought & action) is derailed,
& when history itself is distorted, destroyed, hidden.

Our systems are sustained and hurt by conjured rewards & punishments.
We are hurt by concepts of credit & blame
& by insisting upon competition & conditioned exchanges (business),
propagated & rewarded in almost all thought & activity.
But we are all accountable to real consequences. Eventually.

My husband returned to academia, as a student, in his 40's.
After 4 more years of research, he made significant contributions.
As a result, he chaired a United Nations group on epistemology
for 5 years.
But he could not gain admission into a Masters program
without a supervisor who knew more than he did
about his area of examination, which was, ironically,
the relationships between language, literacy & intelligence.

Reluctantly returning to business from '86 - '09,
his concepts & life essential technologies were 'too expensive',
'too complicated', 'too time consuming', 'unnecessary'.
There was little difference between governments and private business:
again & again, people repeatedly justified their jobs,
with little ability to evaluate & choose what was worth thinking or doing.

So here we are, in a tiny apartment, way behind on car payments,
having sold / given away other than basic necessities,
after we, & others, painstakingly put together,
& subsequently lost environmental & health research & education facilities,
one after another, in Canada, the UK, the USA.
While the distress in the world has increased.

My husband endured 4 heart attacks,
& depends on oxygen, insulin & dialysis.
Any disruption in society's present level of order
results in his death.
He has received little acknowledgement,
he has been perpetually stalled out.
Even recent attempts to redesign dialysis machines are unwelcome.

To the professionals we see now, he is only a 'patient',
an appendage to 'disease', with a body expensive to maintain.
Yet he still has much to offer.

He was and is not 'plain or ordinary'.
He was and is extraordinary.
Even so, he too has been disrespected, misunderstood, mocked,
used & abused.
I admire that he chose to learn from all experiences,
to keep on creating,
rather than giving attention to what was experienced.
He did not compromise,
he saw that the scheme of life is large & benevolent.

He is content with life, the universe, how things work.
He has hope
that we will come to respect & allow more of who & what we are, to ourselves,
that we will welcome more of who & what we are, to each other,
that we will acknowledge & take responsibilities we have.

No one is ordinary.
Each of us is necessarily unique & complementary.
There is divine justice -
we bring it about by what we think, say & do.
We live & we change, continuously, eternally.
We are responsible for all of our experiences -
to accept this, we need to learn how things work.
We either change gracefully, or through violence.

Maybe Mr & Mrs Broad, CBS & Mr Safer read these comments.
Maybe someone who accepts our interdependent origins
& interdependent progressions reads this.
If anyone is helped by our comments, we all make progress.

Kind regards, Jennifer

[NaplesPaul]

Don't make me laugh. What a typical ego maniac. Personal Credit for his contributions. "How Bourgeois" He wants his name on all of his contributions as well as all the celebrity that goes with it. He admits he was a terrible father and he is basically saying to the world on 60 minutes that his children have no drive or goals but he has provided for them financially - What a sport? Obviouslly he has learned nothing from his mistakes and what he should be doing is helping some of the unfortunate children and adults that are suffering from his type of parental mistakes and contribute and devote his genius and money to the many small organizations where people put their own time and money (WITHOUT PERSONAL CREDIT) in this country within and outside the glamorous Los Angeles to help children that have their lives comprimised by his type of parental abuse.
Paul Cestaro, Naples, Florida

[winstrv]

He sounded disappointed in his sons. That is his fault. He treated them like the Democrats treat those who vote for them. He gave them everything they wanted (nanny state) and made them well off. Why should they have any ambition? BTW if he wants to give his money away, I volunteer to receive enough to pay off my mortgage and he can even put his name on my house to show he helped this old soldier.

[markamichaud]

Only an ignorant republican can link this story with President Obama.

[ericbrianb]

Over the course of Morley Safer's long association with "60 MINUTES", his reporting has consistently demonstrated the unbiased objectivity that was once emblematic of CBS News. Sadly, that lack of bias was notably absent in tonight's story detailing billionaire Eli Broad's philanthropic efforts. The "non-story" your most senior correspondent presented was mean-spirited and determined to focus on Safer's shallow assessment of Broad's management style, his high expectations for colleagues, and his tendency to exert a high level of control over the substantial institutions he is helping create. But it was the august newsman's description of a recent MOCA gala that was beyond the pale: "It was a scrum of culture vultures, fashion victims and art victims, dealers and collectors - a night when skinniness was next only to godliness, when philanthropy and social climbing, self-aggrandizement and greed dissolved into one gigantic air kiss - all under the benevolent eye of that feared and admired dictator, Eli Broad." Really, Morley? This is one L.A. native pot calling your N.Y. kettle black; the art-poser is nothing if not a Manhattan creation, where it thrives in all its self-aggrandizing glory. Give Mr. Broad the credit he's due, Morley; his contributions to the greater good far outweigh any personal failings to which his apparently thin-skinned detractors have been subject. It's been a long time since Andrew Carnegie strolled the streets of Manhattan? and there's certainly no glut of cultural institutions being named for two of NYC's most recent high-profiles, Donald Trump and Bernard Madoff.

[RickLeeAbrams]

Safer seldomed showed the under-belly of Eli. This description of the people whose favor Eli curries gives us all insight as to Eli's true character. This is the same many who TOOK $52 M from the city of Los Angeles so he could ha his parking garage next to his museum while the City denied a park for the children in Hollywood because ti's $5.2 M age was too much. Eli gets the land for $1 per year plus $52 M so kids cannot have a park and all 60 Minutes sees are the gifts -- yeah with strings attached that seem to rag more loot back to Eli than he gives away.

[wjkno1]

Hey Mr. Broad! Internet voting, rightly organized, can neutralize the power of Big Money in all US elections. Lets get together and tell the American people about this. I'll do all the talking, and you pay the bills. It'll be a great trick to pull on your rich friends!

William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.

[bill650]

Eli Broad made all his money due to the free enterprise system. Mr. Broad should take over a HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY with the stipulation that it will turn no one with a n exsising condition away and he will still have plenty of money when he kicks the bucket
bill650

[wjkno1]

Good idea but, then who would support all those Great contemporary "artists"?

[Encinoboy]

When it comes to money, art, and getting his way on everything he touches, the man is a perfectionist. When it comes to the alienation of his two children, he shrugs it off with "I can't go back and change what has happened". He had one meaningful job in his life, being a father. He apparently was an total unrepentant failure.
Everything that he does in his public life can't undo the suffocation of two little kids by a egotistical windbag with an insatiable need to suck the attention out of all that surround him. Enjoy your money.