SOURCE of WEALTH: Cofounder, Alpha Investment Management
FUNDING AREAS: Policy, Arts & Culture
OVERVIEW: While Berggruen has given to the arts, his main passion is the Berggruen Institute, a think tank in Los Angeles that he has committed a good portion of his fortune to developing and endowing. Berggruen has also signed the Giving Pledge. Berggruen also founded the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Foundation. According available tax filings, the foundation awarded $260,000 in grants in 2017 and nearly $21 million from 2014 to 2017.
BACKGROUND: Berggruen, a dual citizen of the United States and Germany, was born in Paris, the son of an art dealer and an actress. He attended several schools in Europe before studying finance and international business at NYU. He worked at several investment companies before founding Berggruen Holdings with a $250,000 trust fund, and cofounding Alpha Investment Management four years later.
ISSUES:
POLICY: The centerpiece of Berggruen’s philanthropy is the Berggruen Institute, an independent think tank based in Los Angeles. Its mission “is to develop foundational ideas and, through them, shape political, economic and social institutions for the 21st century.” Berggruen has explained this undertaking to the Wall Street Journal by saying that philosophy and ideas are all important. “We’re still shaped by ideas and by the people that created them thousands of years ago.” Among other things, the institute offers a $1 million annual prize to recognize top humanistic thinkers. When fully developed, the institute will offer a home to several dozen scholars and host regular convenings in its headquarters in the Santa Monica Mountains. Berggruen reportedly has committed at least $1 billion to permanently endow the organization.
In addition to his own think tank, Berggruen has shown support for other groups such as the Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings Institution, and Pacific Council on International Policy.
ARTS & CULTURE: Berggruen’s father Heinz Berggruen was a well-known art collector and dealer for a number of 20th century masters, including Pablo Picasso, so it is not surprising that Berggruen is a major benefactor of the arts. He is on the board of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a member of the internation council of Berggruen Museum in Berlin, where the bulk of his father’s collection is now housed. In addition to making acquisitions for these organizations and helping organization fundraising drives, he also contributes smaller amounts through the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Foundation to organizations such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Portland Art Museum, Tate Americas Foundation, and the National Museums Association.
LOOKING FORWARD: It remains to be seen whether Berggruen will engage in significant ongoing philanthropic giving in addition to his main work on the Berggruen Institute.
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