Eli Broad
Encyclopedia
Eli Broad is an American
businessman from Detroit, Michigan
who resides in Los Angeles
, California
.
to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents. His father was a housepainter, his mother was a dressmaker. His family moved to Detroit when he was 6 years old. Broad attended Detroit Public Schools
; he was a 1951 graduate of Detroit Central High School
and went on to attend Michigan State University, where he majored in accounting with a minor in economics and graduated cum laude in 1954. Broad married Edythe "Edye" Lawson in 1954 when he was 21 and she was 18. He became the youngest Michigan native to become a Certified Public Accountant
(CPA). Prior to entering the home building business, he worked as an accountant for two years, and partnered with Donald Kaufman to found a homebuilding company, Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation (now KB Home
). Looking to diversify the cyclical homebuilding business, Broad in 1971 acquired Sun Life Insurance Company of America, a small family-owned insurance company in Baltimore, for $52 million. Broad transformed Sun Life into the retirement savings powerhouse SunAmerica. He sold SunAmerica to AIG in 1999 for $18 billion. He was CEO of SunAmerica, now a subsidiary of the American International Group
, until 2000.
Eli and Edythe Broad are the founders of The Broad Foundations, with the mission of advancing entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts. In doing this, the foundation focuses on the arts and culture in Southern California, championing the revitalization of downtown Los Angeles, and reforming K-12 public education across the United States. The Broad Foundations, which include The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and The Broad Art Foundation, have assets of $2.1 billion.
In 2010, Broad backed "The Giving Pledge
," an initiative started by fellow billionaires Warren Buffett
and Bill
and Melinda Gates
for rich Americans to give at least half of their wealth to charity. Eli and Edythe Broad committed to give 75 percent of their wealth to philanthropy during or after their lifetimes.
in 1979 and held that post until 1984; during his tenure he recruited Pontus Hultén as founding director of the museum. Later, in 1984, he helped to negotiate the acquisition of the Panza Collection
for the museum. In 2008, his foundation gave a $30 million challenge grant to rebuild the museum’s endowment and to provide exhibition support. His offer was contingent on the museum remaining independent and not merging with LACMA. The following year, Broad was a key figure in the selection of the museum's new director, Jeffrey Deitch, and several new board members. When Victor Pinchuk was appointed to MOCA's Board of Trustees in late 2009, Broad joined Pinchuk's Future Generation Art Prize Board.
, where he was instrumental in recruiting Andrea Rich as the museum's president and Michael Govan as director. In 2003, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation gave $60 million to LACMA as part of the museum's renovation campaign to create the Broad Contemporary Art Museum and acquire art.
led the fundraising campaign to build the Frank Gehry
-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall
. The Broads later provided the lead gift to the Los Angeles Opera
to bring Richard Wagner
's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen
to Los Angeles in 2009—2010.
In 2000, Broad donated $23.2 million towards the Broad Art Center
at UCLA, designed by Richard Meier
On June 1, 2007 Eli and Edythe Broad pledged $26 million to Michigan State University
for construction of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
, and they gave another $2 million to the project in 2010. The Broads also contributed $10 million in 2008 for a programming endowment for a state-of-the-art music and performing arts center at Santa Monica College
, The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, and an adjacent black box performance space, The Edye.
at his alma mater
Michigan State University
, from which he graduated cum laude in 1954.
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation's education work is focused on dramatically improving urban K-12 public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. The Broad Foundation has three national flagship initiatives:
The Broad Superintendents Academy is a 10-month executive management program to train working CEOs and other top executives from business, non-profit, military, government and education backgrounds to lead urban school systems.
The Broad Residency in Urban Education is a two-year management development program that trains recent graduate students, primarily with business and law degrees, who have several years of work experience and places them immediately into managerial positions in the central operations of urban school districts.
The $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education is the nation’s largest education award given annually to urban school districts that have made the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while closing achievement gaps between income and ethnic groups.
On April 25, 2007, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation joined forces with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledging a joint $60 million to create Strong American Schools
, a nonprofit project responsible for running Ed in 08
, an information and initiative campaign aimed at encouraging 2008 presidential contenders to include education in their campaign policies.
of MIT and Harvard was founded with a $100 million donation to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
from Broad and his wife, Edythe, in 2003. In 2005, the couple donated another $100 million to Harvard. On September 4, 2008 the Broads gave another $400 million to endow the Broad Institute. The endowment is managed by Harvard's investment unit.
The Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC
is the product of an public-private partnership between voter-created CIRM
, the Keck School of Medicine of USC
and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which donated $30 million in 2006. In 2007, the Broads also donated $20 million to the UCLA Stem Cell Institute. One year later, they gave a major gift to the University of California, San Francisco
for the new headquarters of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, which opened in February 2011. Broad is also a member of the California Institute of Technology
Board of Trustees where he funded the Broad Center for the Biological Sciences. In 2009, the Broads gave $5 million to fund the Joint Center for Translational Medicine at Caltech and UCLA.
as an arts center. He helped to found the Grand Avenue Committee, a group formed to oversee additional development of the avenue, and is co-chair of the its board of directors.
, Picasso and Matisse. Eventually, the pair began to concentrate on post-World War II paintings, at times selling some of their original purchases to fund new ones. Larry Gagosian
is credited to be Broad's most important advisor and dealer when purchasing works of art.
When they ran out of wall space in their home, Eli and Edythe Broad pioneered a lending library for contemporary art. The Broad Art Foundation, which they established in 1984, has made more than 7,800 loans to more than 485 museums and university galleries worldwide. The Broads' have two collections—a personal collection with nearly 500 works and The Broad Art Foundation's collection, which has approximately 1,500 works Modern
and contemporary art
. The collection was one of the most sought-after by museums in the U.S., until January 2008, when Broad and his wife decided that their personal collection would ultimately go to their foundation to make loans to museums rather than give any of the art away. In 1988, architect Frederick Fisher
designed office space, archives and extensive private galleries for the Broad Art Foundation in a former telephone switching station in the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica. On August 23, 2010 the Broads formally announced that they would build and endow a museum to house the Broad Collections, on a Grand Avenue site owned by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency in downtown Los Angeles across the street from Walt Disney Concert Hall
.
Some of the best-known works are by contemporary artists including:
as the 173rd wealthiest person in the world
. A major donor to Democratic
political candidates, the Newsmeat Power Rankings identify Broad as one of the top eight "most famous and powerful American. "
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman from Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
who resides in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Life and career
An only child, Broad was born in the BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents. His father was a housepainter, his mother was a dressmaker. His family moved to Detroit when he was 6 years old. Broad attended Detroit Public Schools
Detroit Public Schools
Detroit Public Schools is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The student population of the Detroit Public Schools is about 65,971 , which is down about 9.7% from the previous school year. Detroit Public Charter Schools educate an additional 56,000...
; he was a 1951 graduate of Detroit Central High School
Central High School (Detroit, Michigan)
Central High School is the oldest secondary school in Detroit, Michigan; it is staffed and operated by the Detroit Public Schools.-History:In 1858, Detroit's first high school opened on Miami Avenue. By 1863, due to increased enrollment, the school was moved to a building that had formerly housed...
and went on to attend Michigan State University, where he majored in accounting with a minor in economics and graduated cum laude in 1954. Broad married Edythe "Edye" Lawson in 1954 when he was 21 and she was 18. He became the youngest Michigan native to become a Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
(CPA). Prior to entering the home building business, he worked as an accountant for two years, and partnered with Donald Kaufman to found a homebuilding company, Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation (now KB Home
KB Home
KB Home is a homebuilding company based in the United States, founded in 1957 as Kaufman & Broad in Detroit, Michigan. It was the first company to be traded on the NYSE as a home builder and is a Fortune 500 company...
). Looking to diversify the cyclical homebuilding business, Broad in 1971 acquired Sun Life Insurance Company of America, a small family-owned insurance company in Baltimore, for $52 million. Broad transformed Sun Life into the retirement savings powerhouse SunAmerica. He sold SunAmerica to AIG in 1999 for $18 billion. He was CEO of SunAmerica, now a subsidiary of the American International Group
American International Group
American International Group, Inc. or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in...
, until 2000.
Philanthropy
In 2010, Broad backed "The Giving Pledge
The Giving Pledge
The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage the wealthiest people in the United States to make a commitment to give most of their money to philanthropic causes...
," an initiative started by fellow billionaires Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
and Bill
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
and Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates
Melinda Ann French , later known as Melinda French Gates, is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the wife of Bill Gates...
for rich Americans to give at least half of their wealth to charity. Eli and Edythe Broad committed to give 75 percent of their wealth to philanthropy during or after their lifetimes.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Following an initiative by philanthropist Marcia Weisman, Broad was the founding chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los AngelesMuseum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
in 1979 and held that post until 1984; during his tenure he recruited Pontus Hultén as founding director of the museum. Later, in 1984, he helped to negotiate the acquisition of the Panza Collection
Giuseppe Panza
Giuseppe Panza was one of the world's most prominent collectors of modern art.. He lived in Milan and Varese, Italy.-Life and work:...
for the museum. In 2008, his foundation gave a $30 million challenge grant to rebuild the museum’s endowment and to provide exhibition support. His offer was contingent on the museum remaining independent and not merging with LACMA. The following year, Broad was a key figure in the selection of the museum's new director, Jeffrey Deitch, and several new board members. When Victor Pinchuk was appointed to MOCA's Board of Trustees in late 2009, Broad joined Pinchuk's Future Generation Art Prize Board.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Broad also is a life trustee and member of the executive committee of Los Angeles County Museum of ArtLos Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
, where he was instrumental in recruiting Andrea Rich as the museum's president and Michael Govan as director. In 2003, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation gave $60 million to LACMA as part of the museum's renovation campaign to create the Broad Contemporary Art Museum and acquire art.
Walt Disney Hall
From 1996 on, Broad and then-Mayor Richard RiordanRichard Riordan
Richard J. Riordan is a Republican politician from California, U.S.A. who served as the California Secretary for Education from 2003–2005 and as the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1993–2001...
led the fundraising campaign to build the Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
. The Broads later provided the lead gift to the Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
to bring Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
to Los Angeles in 2009—2010.
Others
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture is a professional school at the University of California, Los Angeles. The school plays a vital role in the cultural and artistic life of the campus and the community. Through the six degree-granting departments, it provides a full range of course...
at UCLA, designed by Richard Meier
Richard Meier
Richard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier is Jewish and was born in Newark, New Jersey...
On June 1, 2007 Eli and Edythe Broad pledged $26 million to Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
for construction of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
The Eli and Edythe Board Art Museum is the Contemporary art museum at Michigan State University, slated to be completed in the Spring of 2012.-Beginnings:...
, and they gave another $2 million to the project in 2010. The Broads also contributed $10 million in 2008 for a programming endowment for a state-of-the-art music and performing arts center at Santa Monica College
Santa Monica College
Santa Monica College is a two-year, public, junior college located in Santa Monica, California.Santa Monica College was first opened in 1929 as Santa Monica Junior College. Current enrollment is over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study...
, The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, and an adjacent black box performance space, The Edye.
Education
In 1991, Broad endowed the Eli Broad College of BusinessEli Broad College of Business
The Eli Broad College of Business is the business college at Michigan State University. The college has programs in accounting, general business - pre-law, finance, general management, human resource management, marketing, supply chain management, and hospitality business, which is an...
at his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
, from which he graduated cum laude in 1954.
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation's education work is focused on dramatically improving urban K-12 public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. The Broad Foundation has three national flagship initiatives:
The Broad Superintendents Academy is a 10-month executive management program to train working CEOs and other top executives from business, non-profit, military, government and education backgrounds to lead urban school systems.
The Broad Residency in Urban Education is a two-year management development program that trains recent graduate students, primarily with business and law degrees, who have several years of work experience and places them immediately into managerial positions in the central operations of urban school districts.
The $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education is the nation’s largest education award given annually to urban school districts that have made the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while closing achievement gaps between income and ethnic groups.
On April 25, 2007, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation joined forces with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledging a joint $60 million to create Strong American Schools
Strong American Schools
Strong American Schools, a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, is a nonprofit organization supported by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that seeks to promote sound education policies for all Americans...
, a nonprofit project responsible for running Ed in 08
Strong American Schools
Strong American Schools, a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, is a nonprofit organization supported by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that seeks to promote sound education policies for all Americans...
, an information and initiative campaign aimed at encouraging 2008 presidential contenders to include education in their campaign policies.
Criticism
The Broad Superintendents Academy has been criticized as being a destructive force for public education.Biomedical research
The Broad InstituteBroad Institute
The Broad Institute is a genomic medicine research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Although it is independently governed and supported as a 501 nonprofit research organization, the institute is formally affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard...
of MIT and Harvard was founded with a $100 million donation to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
from Broad and his wife, Edythe, in 2003. In 2005, the couple donated another $100 million to Harvard. On September 4, 2008 the Broads gave another $400 million to endow the Broad Institute. The endowment is managed by Harvard's investment unit.
The Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
is the product of an public-private partnership between voter-created CIRM
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created by California's Proposition 71 , which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world's largest single backer of...
, the Keck School of Medicine of USC
Keck School of Medicine of USC
The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California is a major center of medical research, education and patient care. Founded in 1885, the Keck School of Medicine is the oldest medical school in Southern California.Located on the university’s Health Sciences campus three miles ...
and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which donated $30 million in 2006. In 2007, the Broads also donated $20 million to the UCLA Stem Cell Institute. One year later, they gave a major gift to the University of California, San Francisco
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world...
for the new headquarters of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, which opened in February 2011. Broad is also a member of the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
Board of Trustees where he funded the Broad Center for the Biological Sciences. In 2009, the Broads gave $5 million to fund the Joint Center for Translational Medicine at Caltech and UCLA.
Grand Avenue Project
Broad has been instrumental in developing Grand AvenueGrand Avenue Project
The Grand Avenue Project is a project currently under development designed to revive downtown Los Angeles, like L.A Live. The $3 billion project, which is to be built on Grand Avenue next to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, is designed to give Los Angeles a thriving city center. It has been compared...
as an arts center. He helped to found the Grand Avenue Committee, a group formed to oversee additional development of the avenue, and is co-chair of the its board of directors.
Art Collection
Broad’s interest in art was born in 1973; the first work he bought was a Van Gogh drawing entitled "Cabanes a Saintes-Maries" 1888). Usually, his trajectory as an art collector is traced to mentoring by the late Taft Schreiber. At first, the Broads assembled a notable collection of works by MiróMiro
Miro may refer to:* Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, a reformist Iranian political organization* Prumnopitys ferruginea, an evergreen coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand.* Miro Technologies, an MRO supplier from California...
, Picasso and Matisse. Eventually, the pair began to concentrate on post-World War II paintings, at times selling some of their original purchases to fund new ones. Larry Gagosian
Larry Gagosian
Lawrence Gilbert "Larry" Gagosian is an American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries, with three locations in New York City Lawrence Gilbert "Larry" Gagosian (born April 19, 1945) is an American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries, with three...
is credited to be Broad's most important advisor and dealer when purchasing works of art.
When they ran out of wall space in their home, Eli and Edythe Broad pioneered a lending library for contemporary art. The Broad Art Foundation, which they established in 1984, has made more than 7,800 loans to more than 485 museums and university galleries worldwide. The Broads' have two collections—a personal collection with nearly 500 works and The Broad Art Foundation's collection, which has approximately 1,500 works Modern
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
and contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
. The collection was one of the most sought-after by museums in the U.S., until January 2008, when Broad and his wife decided that their personal collection would ultimately go to their foundation to make loans to museums rather than give any of the art away. In 1988, architect Frederick Fisher
Frederick Fisher
Frederick Fisher VC , was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first Canadian-born man to win VC while serving in the Canadian Army. A native of St...
designed office space, archives and extensive private galleries for the Broad Art Foundation in a former telephone switching station in the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica. On August 23, 2010 the Broads formally announced that they would build and endow a museum to house the Broad Collections, on a Grand Avenue site owned by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency in downtown Los Angeles across the street from Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
.
Some of the best-known works are by contemporary artists including:
- John BaldessariJohn BaldessariJohn Anthony Baldessari is an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lives and works in Santa Monica and Venice, California...
's two text paintings from 1967-68. - Jasper JohnsJasper JohnsJasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
- flag paintings (1960 and 1967), mixed-media "Watchman" (1964), "hatch" (1975) - Jeff KoonsJeff KoonsJeffrey "Jeff" Koons is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror finish surfaces....
- fluorescent-lighted vacuum cleaners (1981), floating basketballs and bronze lifeboat (both 1985), stainless-steel bunny rabbit (1986), "Bubbles," a life-size porcelain portrait of Michael Jackson and his pet chimpanzee (1988) bought on May 15, 2001 for 5.6M, the first "Balloon Dog" (1994, in blue), and a "Cracked Egg" purchased for $3.5 million in 2006. Broad owns more than 20 Koons pieces, and donated €640,000 ($900,000) to help sponsor a 2008 Koons retrospective at VersaillesVersaillesVersailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
(with fellow Koons collector François PinaultFrançois PinaultFrançois Pinault is a French businessman who runs the retail company PPR. He is a friend of former French President Jacques Chirac....
). - Roy LichtensteinRoy LichtensteinRoy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...
- three comic strip paintings (1962–65) and his 1969 abstraction of a mirror. In November 1994, Broad purchased "I...I'm Sorry" for $2.5 million USDUnited States dollarThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
at a Sotheby'sSotheby'sSotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
auction, paid with his American ExpressAmerican ExpressAmerican Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
credit cardCredit cardA credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
, and thereby earned 2.5 million frequent flyer milesFrequent flyer programA frequent flyer program is a loyalty program offered by many airlines. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accumulate frequent flyer miles corresponding to the distance flown on that airline or its partners. There are other ways to accumulate miles...
. - Robert RauschenbergRobert RauschenbergRobert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
- 1954 red abstraction. - Damien HirstDamien HirstDamien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
- Away From the Flock. - Edward RuschaEdward RuschaEdward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the Pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California...
's first word painting, "Boss" (1961) and his 1964 picture of Norm'sNorms RestaurantsNorms Restaurants is a chain of diner-style restaurants in Southern California. The chain was founded in 1949 and its restaurants are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They advertise their hours with the line "We never close." There are currently 18 locations in Los Angeles, Orange and...
La Cienega BoulevardLa Cienega BoulevardLa Cienega Boulevard is a major, well-known north–south arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in El Segundo, California on the south and the Sunset Strip/Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood....
restaurant on fire. - Cindy ShermanCindy ShermanCindy Sherman is an American photographer and film director, best known for her conceptual portraits. Sherman currently lives and works in New York City. In 1995, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. She is represented by Sprüth Magers Berlin London in and Metro Pictures gallery in...
- twelve photographs from 1977-80 photographs. - David SmithDavid Smith (sculptor)David Roland Smith was an American Abstract Expressionist sculptor and painter, best known for creating large steel abstract geometric sculptures.-Biography:...
- Cubi XXVIIICubiCubi is a series of stainless steel sculptures that are made up of cubes, rectangular solids and cylinders with spheroidal or flat endcaps. This series of 28 sculptures was the last of the artistic output of the American sculptor David Smith...
, executed in 1965. Broad's October 2005 purchase at a Sotheby'sSotheby'sSotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
auction set a contemporary art auction record of $23,816,000. Broad claimed he had "been looking for a CubiCubiCubi is a series of stainless steel sculptures that are made up of cubes, rectangular solids and cylinders with spheroidal or flat endcaps. This series of 28 sculptures was the last of the artistic output of the American sculptor David Smith...
for more than a decade...I knew it would go way over the estimate and I was prepared, frankly, to pay more than what I bid." - Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
's advertising image, "Where's your rupture?", two Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
images, a twenty-fold silkscreen of Jackie Kennedy, an Elvis, a dance diagram, a wanted poster, an electric chair and a Campbell's soup can—clam chowder, Manhattan style (purchased for $11.8 million) -- all from 1961 to 1967.
Wealth
With an estimated net worth of around $5.8 billion, Broad is ranked by ForbesForbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
as the 173rd wealthiest person in the world
Forbes list of billionaires
Forbes list of billionaires is based on an annual assessment of wealth and assets compiled and published by Forbes magazine on March 10, 2011.-Forbes list of billionaires :...
. A major donor to Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
political candidates, the Newsmeat Power Rankings identify Broad as one of the top eight "most famous and powerful American. "