Jennifer Steinhauer tells this story about Eli Broad in her profile of the philanthropist’s charitable ways in the New York Times:
In 2003 Mr. Broad pledged $50 million for a much-needed new building to hold contemporary art. […] But just before the new wing opened in 2008, Mr. Broad said he would keep the 2,000-plus works in his collection and instead loan hundreds of them to the museum. Soon the new wing became home to various shows and other works of art, in addition to the Broad pieces, enraging Mr. Broad. As a result, several board members said, he did not pay the balance of his pledged gift of roughly $6 million.
“He owes us a fortune,” said Lynda Resnick, a board member. “There was a period he wouldn’t speak to me for a year and a half” over the dispute.
Mr. Broad has “fulfilled my gift to Lacma 100-plus percent,” he said. “The question is: Have they honored their commitments to me, which was to show our collection?”
Wielding an Iron Checkbook to Shape Cultural Los Angeles (New York Times)
