What was Eli Broad's Net Worth?
Eli Broad was a renowned American businessman and philanthropist with a net worth of $7.2 billion at his passing. He built two Fortune 500 companies: KB Home and SunAmerica. In 1957, he co-founded Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation with $25,000 borrowed from his in-laws. The company thrived, becoming one of the nation's largest homebuilders. In 1971, Broad purchased Sun Life Insurance, transforming it into SunAmerica, which he sold in 1999 for $18 billion. Broad retained his role as SunAmerica's CEO until 2000.
In later years, Broad and his wife Edythe dedicated themselves to philanthropy, donating billions to education, medical research, and the arts. Their contributions benefited institutions like Michigan State University, the LA County Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles Opera. They also founded The Broad museum in LA. Broad supported research in inflammatory bowel disease, genomics, and regenerative medicine and advocated for higher taxes on billionaires. Eli Broad passed away on April 30, 2021, at 87.
Early Life and Education
Eli Broad was born on June 6, 1933, in the Bronx, NY, to Lithuanian Jewish immigrants Rebecca and Leo. His father was a house painter, and his mother was a dressmaker. At six, Broad's family moved to Detroit, where his father was a union organizer and store owner. He attended Detroit Central High School and graduated in 1951. Broad then majored in accounting at Michigan State University, graduating cum laude in 1954.
Career Beginnings
Post-college, Broad worked as an accountant and taught night classes at the Detroit Institute of Technology. He later founded a successful accounting firm. Inspired by doing the books for Donald Kaufman's homebuilding business, Broad partnered with Kaufman. They built around 600 homes in Detroit within two years. In 1960, the business moved to Phoenix and eventually to Los Angeles. Broad served as CEO until 1974.
SunAmerica
In 1971, Broad bought Sun Life Insurance for $52 million and transformed it into SunAmerica, a retirement savings powerhouse. The company went public in 1989, and he sold it to AIG in 1998 for $17.8 billion, remaining CEO until 1999.
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Education Philanthropy
In the 21st century, Broad and his wife created the Broad Foundations, donating over $4 billion to K-12 education, medical research, and the arts. Broad launched the Broad Prize, a $1 million annual award for large urban school districts, and the Broad Center, developing leaders in public education.
Broad also supported higher education, donating $10 million to Pitzer College and later endowing Michigan State University with $20 million for the Eli Broad College of Business and the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management. The couple also contributed $28 million for the construction of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU and made significant donations to UCLA.
Arts Philanthropy
Broad was the founding chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which received a $30 million donation from his foundation in 2008. He also gave $60 million to the LA County Museum of Art. Additionally, the Broads donated $6 million to the LA Opera for the production of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen." They continued supporting the LA Opera for years. In 2010, Broad announced the opening of a new contemporary art museum, The Broad, in Downtown LA, which officially opened in 2015.
Medical Philanthropy
Through his foundation, Broad invested significantly in medical research. The initial focus was on inflammatory bowel disease, and it later expanded to genomics and stem cell research. The Broads gave a $100 million founding gift to establish the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, which focuses on genomics to advance human disease understanding and therapies. They also made additional substantial contributions to the Institute.
Other significant investments include $30 million to create the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, with additional centers at UCLA and UCSF. The Broads also funded research centers at Caltech.
Personal Life and Death
Broad married Edythe Lawson in 1954, and they had two children. In the early 1990s, they commissioned Frank Gehry to design their main residence in Brentwood, California.
Following an illness, Broad passed away on April 30, 2021, in Los Angeles at 87.
Malibu Mansion
In 1999, Eli and Edythe purchased two parcels of land in Malibu for $5.65 million and commissioned Richard Meier to design a 5,400-square-foot waterfront mansion. They listed the mansion for sale in February 2020 for $75 million. The property sold for $51.65 million in June 2021, a few months after Broad's death.
