Eli Broad Pours Billions Into LA, But Has His Critics

In a 60 Minutes profile, interviewer Morley Safer called Eli Broad "one of the most consistently generous philanthropists in America." Safer's segment on the billionaire benefactor takes viewers on a lap of some of Broad's biggest Los Angeles contributions (Disney Concert Hall, Broad Contemporary Art at LACMA, and the upcoming "Broad" in Downtown LA). Safer also gives Broad's friends and critics a forum to sound off on the best and worst of Los Angeles' biggest philanthropist.

New York City mayor and fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg told CBS, “Eli Broad sets the standard... the leverage of Broad is really quite amazing.” Artist Jeff Koons, of whom Broad is a steady patron, claims Broad’s gallery space is, “just tremendous.”

But Safer’s “60 Minutes” dialogue with Eli Broad reveals there is more to the “feared and admired dictator” than the half-billion dollars worth of improvements (to date) he has provided Los Angeles with. In a sharp contrast to Koons' adulation, architect Frank Gehry claims Broad is a “control freak,” and a “real pain in the ass" -- not surprising considering the pair's tumultuous history. Check out the “60 Minutes” profile with Eli Broad, one of L.A.'s big-time benefactors, below:

Comments

[B Kleitz]

04:18 AM on 04/27/2011

I thought a "philanthropist" did stuff for people in need. Since can the low income, poor people of California afford to go to an opera or a frickin art gallery?
His kind of "philanthropy" is just more of the same rich people p00p this country has plenty of. He's not doing ANYTHING for people that really need it. He's doing "nice things" for his fellow billionaires.
He does not impress me.
If he really wants to do something for those "less fortunate" than him...how 'bout he pays off a few mortgages, or renovate some schools or something.

Opera house, indeed.

[fozzi58]

02:29 PM on 04/27/2011

+1

f&f

[TonyDu]

10:25 PM on 04/25/2011

Philanthropy as a business is the wrong model.

Investing in operas, art, museums is the wrong way to give money -- when so many are in dire straights. He has acquired too much money while things were too bad for too many. That reflects poor judgment. No one should collect so much money under such circumstances.

Our society if very broken.

[skraeling]

12:18 AM on 04/26/2011

Frankly, I think you are clueless. Can you even begin to comprehend the numbers of people operas, art, and museums hire and educate? Do you think a society that doesn't value these things is a society worth living in? I suspect, it would be a world much like so many wing nuts and right wing droolers have in their heads....empty, vacuous, and insipid.....

[TonyDu]

01:22 AM on 04/26/2011

Economics has the concept of "opportunity cost". Basically, it is not sufficient to say that something is "good" unless you also examine other things that could have been done with the same resources.

I once worked with an executive who never washed clothes. He would change several times each day by throwing the expensive custom clothes into his office waste basket and pulling out a new shirt and slacks. He would also park his cars anywhere, since he had several new ones delivered each month and didn't care about any one car.

We could justify his lavish spending in any number of ways -- just as we can justify spending that benefits any particular subset of society. That doesn't make it good judgment.

[Anne Mccormick]

12:47 AM on 04/26/2011

you are more than clueless. my parents have been very wise about how they spend their money. one of the enjoyments in my father's life is his opera. attending a good opera gives him and others a great deal of joy.

[TonyDu]

01:13 AM on 04/26/2011

Joy is one measure of a good investment. Perhaps there could be other measures of a good investment?

But if you feel that is the only measure, and there is no concern about selfishness or empathy or the future of our society as a whole, then I might be closer to agreeing with you.

Of course, it is his money. At least it is if you ignore that he made "his" money using the accumulated resources of our society -- and with the help of laws passed by the wealthy.

[2binformed]

08:01 PM on 04/25/2011

I wholeheartedly support Eli Broad's wisdom in overseeing how he and his wife's money is spent. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Broad, for all you do.

[skraeling]

12:21 AM on 04/26/2011

Since much, if not most, of his vast wealth is built upon public funds and government connections, I think he has an obligation to the people who have made him wealthy. He is no Gates...he dfd not suddenly come upon an idea...he used our taxes and easily bought politicians and bureaucrats. No crime there, but he is no genius..

[cjaco]

07:58 PM on 04/25/2011

The problem with venture philanthropists is that they expect a return. He doesn't give a sh%%t about the arts, education, or anybody above his own ego. His money is helping to accelerate the demise of our democracy and anything good in our institutions. There is a special place in hell, next to Carnegie and Rockefeller, for him.

[skraeling]

12:21 AM on 04/26/2011

Well, that special place will probably be near a Cargegie Library, Rockefeller Center and "Columbia University, or....?

[Michael Ludin]

10:19 AM on 04/26/2011

oh snap. #236

[Anne Mccormick]

12:54 AM on 04/26/2011

well, to begin with venture philanthropists are spending their money so, of course, they expect a return on their dollars. did you some utopian idea that it would be otherwise. as for Carnegie, he built libraries, museums, and a university. tell me, what will you leave behind when you are no longer with us.

[leorangerie]

07:56 PM on 04/25/2011

Money talks, and Broad has a lot of money and does a lot of talking. From my point of view, he's done great things for Los Angeles. Truly a champion of the arts. The fact that he wants it his way is reasonable. It's his money. If you don't want him on top of you, don't take the money. But what was sad about that 60 Minutes piece was his admission that he was a lousy parent. What good is all that dough if you have a lousy relationship with your family.

[TonyDu]

10:36 PM on 04/25/2011

It's money he earned because of the education, roads, laws, and accumulated knowledge of our society. He is using our society's infrastructure without paying for the real costs.

So the money is only his because we have a government set up by and for the wealthy.

[JScott]

12:19 AM on 04/26/2011

Yup he still asks local municipal authorities for subsidies and such for his projects.
He's done a lot but he's no angel, he could do more with out being a hardass or plastering his name on everything.

And oh yeah his homes he built as Broad of Kaufman & Broad (KB home) weren't all that great!!!! Some were kinda crappy with the roofing coming apart and the kitchen cabinets delaminating. Jeez even Art Linkletter built homes that were better than his (yes even he was a homebuilder for a while)

[leorangerie]

02:06 AM on 04/26/2011

I hear you, but at least he's plowing most of back into his community. The construction jobs alone on his donations have funded tens of thousands of families for for the past twenty years. And those are union jobs, folks.

[skraeling]

12:22 AM on 04/26/2011

He also has bad taste in art...

[leorangerie]

02:06 AM on 04/26/2011

Well, taste is a moving target. And with his money, he can dictate that certain artists succeed. Like Jeff Koons.

[antaeus]

07:57 PM on 04/26/2011

The profile in _The New Yorker_ suggested he doesn't really understand it.

[NickfromCali]

07:56 PM on 04/25/2011

Eli Broad only owns Sen. Feinstein and the entire CA legislature. That's all.

[skraeling]

12:23 AM on 04/26/2011

Every rich person in California has a stake in Feinstein...she is one of them and seems to loathe California....

[TonyDu]

02:28 PM on 04/26/2011

I wish that Sen. Feinstein would propose laws that restrict the marketing of products by those who try to build massive wealth at the expense of our society. Our society needs to get control of corporations -- they are responsible for most of the big problems in our society.

I worked with executives who hid the bulk of their wealth in offshore companies that owned other offshore companies. This allowed them to avoid disclosing their wealth, and allowed them to avoid paying taxes while effectively keeping control of the money. I was told by an executive "our accountants work for all the big names - Microsoft, Oracle -- they all do the same thing." His kingly wealth was built on the backs of our society.