Lionized by Good Deeds
Since the construction of the Greek temples, philanthropy has been used to improve reputations. A tally of modern attempts at redemption through giving. Text by Silvia Killingsworth and Helaine Olen.
John D. Rockefeller
Before: Feared monopolist.
Gave: More than $500 million (over $8 billion in 2008 dollars) to education and medicine.
After: “World’s greatest giver”—the New York Times.
Verdict: The turnaround master.
Andrew Carnegie
Before: Union buster.
Gave: Nearly all of his wealth by the time he died.
After: Heralded as a benevolent funder of libraries, education, and the arts.
Verdict: Near-total success.
Andrew Mellon
Before: Perpetrator of policies that helped lead to the Great Depression.
Gave: $10 million, plus his $35 million art collection to build the National Gallery of Art.
After: In 1937, the New York Times wrote, “He gave art to the nation.”
Verdict: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has become one of the country’s best-known charities.
Michael Milken
Before: Wall Street felon.
Gave: Millions to prostate-cancer research.
After: Dubbed “the man who changed medicine.”
Verdict: The poster boy for redemption.
Bill Gates
Before: Founder of the “Evil Empire.”
Gave: Billions to create the biggest charity in the world.
After: Named one of Time magazine’s People of the Year in 2005 for humanitarian efforts.
Verdict: The Rockefeller of our era.
Stephen Schwarzman
Before: Insanely rich party boy.
Gave: $100 million to the New York Public Library.
After: Some think his philanthropy is ego driven.
Verdict: Mission not yet accomplished.
Back to: The Price of Immortality
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