Haute 100 Los Angeles Update: Eli Broad

Our Haute 100 list details the accomplishments of the most influential people in each of our markets—Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These people continue to make moves, so rather than waiting for the next Haute 100 issue to come out, we thought we’d provide you with regular updates on those Haute 100 members who are making headlines. Check back daily for more info on the most powerful people in your city. Well-versed in philanthropy and the arts, Angeleno billionaire Eli Broad is part of a $3 million campaign to save L.A.’s ICEF Public Schools.

Eli & Edythe Broad

Category: Power Couples

Industry: Development/ Manufacturing

Company: Kaufman & Broad

What Makes Them Haute: Broad made his fortune with his real estate company, Kaufman & Broad, and then found financial company SunAmerica, where he served as CEO. He is actively involved in revitalizing L.A.’s downtown area and is an avid supporter of enriching the city’s cultural life. The Broads created a family foundation in the 1960s as a way to support their charitable interests and causes. The Broad Foundations, which include The Eli and Edy, the Broad Foundation and The Broad Art Foundation, have assets of $2.5 billion.

What Makes Them Haute Now: L.A.’s leading philanthropists are donating $700,000 in an effort to help ICEF Public Schools. Among them is Eli Broad who is contributing $500,000 to the cause. The billionaire, recently ranked No. 44 on the annual Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans, has been a longtime supporter of charters and his generous half-million dollar donation will aide one of the nation’s largest and most successful charter school companies, composed of 15 schools in low-income minority neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The initial $3 million campaign, funded by Broad, former mayor Richard Riordan and philanthropist Frank Baxter, is expected to bring ICEF away from the brink of financial insolvency.

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