Eli Broad

About Eli Broad

Eli Broad bought his first real estate at age 20 and cofounded home builder Kaufman & Broad in 1957 with $12,500 borrowed from his in-laws.

Kaufman & Broad became one of the nation's biggest home builders, supplying parents of baby boomers with affordable housing.

He later bought Sun Life Insurance, transforming it into annuities giant SunAmerica, before selling it to AIG for $18 billion in stock in 1998.

The Broads' two foundations, which have $3 billion in combined assets, support medical research, public education and the visual and performing arts.

The foundations, which recently celebrated 50 years of grant making, have pledged and given away over $4 billion in grants.

He and his wife Edythe opened an art museum in L.A., which offers free admission to view works from the couple's contemporary art collection, in 2015.

In 2019, Broad published a controversial opinion piece in the New York Times supporting a wealth tax for the top 1%.