SOURCE OF WEALTH: Founder, Tiger Management
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Environment, Medical Research, Religion and Spirituality, Poverty
OVERVIEW: In 1989, Julian Robertson, Jr., a Giving Pledge signatory, started the Tiger Foundation, an organization that remains active today thanks to the tight-knit family of former Tiger employees and colleagues. Available tax filings reveal that the foundation awarded around $7 million in grants in 2017. In 1996, the late Robertson and wife Josie established the Robertson Foundation to begin allocating the family’s assets to US based grantees. The foundation awarded $106 million in grants in 2017, according to available tax filings.
He also launched his third charitable organization, The Blanche and Julian Robertson Family Foundation (BJRFF), named after his parents. This foundation operates independently to improve quality of life in Robertson’s birthplace of Salisbury, North Carolina. Available tax filings reveal that the foundation awarded around $700,000 in grants in 2018.
BACKGROUND: Julian Robertson was the retired manager of hedge fund Tiger Management. For over a decade, Robertson had been investing directly in other hedge funds, particularly those managed by “Tiger Cubs”–former traders and managers at Tiger Management. Retirement had also given Robertson the freedom to become an active philanthropist and benefactor. In 2010 he signed Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’s Giving Pledge, committing the majority of his wealth to charitable causes and donating a recorded $354 million from 2004-2008. Robertson died in August 2022.
ISSUES:
HEALTH: The Foundation gave $27 million to the New York Stem Cell Research Foundation in 2010, following a $10 million individual donation from Robertson himself.
ENVIRONMENT: Robertson has supported a wide range of environmental organizations, including EarthJustice, the National Parks Conservation Association, the World Resources Institute, and the Southern Environmental Law Center. Most of his funding in this area—over $31 million—went to the Environmental Defense Fund. Recently, climate change has become an important issue for Robertson as well.
EDUCATION: In late 2015, Robertson donated $3.5 million to his alma mater, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The Robertson Foundation also has its Reform from Within and Drive Change by Generating External Pressure initiatives, as well as Robertson’s support for the New York City Charter School Center.
LOOKING FORWARD: It is unclear what will become of Robertson’s foundation following his death or whether he directed any of his money to charity in his will. As an individual, Robertson’s philanthropic reach was broad. Above all, Robertson believed in “giving where it counts.”
CONTACT:
The Robertson Foundation
101 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10178,
LINKS:
