SOURCE OF WEALTH: Coatue Management
FUNDING AREAS: Human Services & Global, Education & Youth, Environment
OVERVIEW: Philippe and Ana Laffont typically conduct their philanthropy through the Laffont Family Foundation. Phillipe, his brother Thomas, and business associates, meanwhile, use Coatue Foundation and Coatue Foundation 2. Human services and education are their top interests.
According to available tax filings, the Laffont Family Foundation distributed $250,000 in grants in 2018, while the Coatue Foundation awarded $664,000 in grants in 2017 and the Coatue Foundation 2 did not make any grant awards in 2017.
BACKGROUND: Philippe P. Laffont graduated from MIT in 1991 with an M.Sc. and B.S. in Computer Science. He worked as an analyst at McKinsey & Co. from 1992 to 1994 and served as a research analyst at Tiger Management Corp. from 1996 to 1999 before founding Coatue Management in 1999.
ISSUES:
HUMAN SERVICES & GLOBAL: Philippe and Ana Laffont, via the Laffont Family Foundation, have strongly supported Mary’s Meals, which provides “one good meal to some of the world’s poorest children every school day.” Ana, a native of Spain, sits on the international board of Mary’s Meals, which has received seven-figure gifts from the family foundation. Other grantees have included Carlos Otis Clinic, which operates on Stratton Mountain in Vermont.
Laffont also supported human services organizations via Coatue and Coatue Foundation 2. His brother Thomas chairs these vehicles and works out of the Bay Area office of Coatue Management. Thomas sits on the board of Tipping Point Community, “a non-profit organization that fights poverty in the Bay Area.” Other grantees have included Robin Hood Foundation, which Laffont is also on the board of.
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Laffont and Ana support Year Up via their family foundation. Through other vehicles, Laffont has supported Brown University (Coatue Foundation Board Member Joanna Albright and her husband attended the school), Grace Church School, Sunrise Day Camp, Harlem RBI, iMentor, BUILD, and Blue Engine.
ENVIRONMENT: Grantees have included Greenwich Land Trust and National Audubon Society.
LOOKING FORWARD: The Laffont Family Foundation’s grants have focused on a handful of outfits with personal connections to the couple. Perhaps their philanthropy will broaden. Ana’s ties to the international community should be watched. As for Laffont’s other vehicles, the Bay Area is a potential region for greater giving.
CONTACT:
The Laffont Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:
Laffont Family Foundation
9 W. 57th St., 25th Fl.
New York City, NY 10019
The Coatue Foundation and Coatue Foundation 2 do not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with its trustees but below are addresses
Coatue Foundation
9 W. 57 St., 25th Fl.
New York City, NY 10019
Coatue Foundation 2
9 W. 57 St., 25th Fl.
New York City, NY 10019
