Richard C. Blum | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Blum in 2009 | |
| Born | Richard Charles Blum (1935-07-31)July 31, 1935 San Francisco,California, U.S. |
| Died | February 27, 2022(2022-02-27) (aged 86) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BS,MBA) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
Richard Charles Blum (July 31, 1935 – February 27, 2022) was an American investor and the husband of United States SenatorDianne Feinstein.[1] He was the chairman and president ofBlum Capital, anequity investment management firm. Blum was on the boards of directors of several companies, includingCB Richard Ellis, where until May 2009 he served as thechairman of that board. He was aregent of the University of California from 2002[2] until his death.[3]
Blum was born in San Francisco, California, to aJewish family. He was the son of Louise (Hirsch) and Herbert Blum, who sold robes and raincoats.[4] He attended San Francisco public schools.[5] He received his Bachelor of Science inbusiness administration in 1958 and aMaster of Business Administration in 1959 from theHaas School of Business of theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[3][6]
In the 1970s, Blum supported then Mayor of San FranciscoGeorge Moscone.[4] After Moscone's assassination, Blum supported the new mayorDianne Feinstein; they married in 1980.[5] Blum had three daughters from his first marriage to Andrea Schwartz Blum.[7]
Blum joined investment brokerage Sutro & Co. at the age of 23, becoming a partner before age 30.[5] At Sutro, Blum led a partnership that acquiredRingling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for $8 million, selling it toMattel four years later for $40 million.[5] On the back of this deal Blum started in business for himself in 1975, founding what is nowBlum Capital Partners;[5] a stake inURS Corp. was one of its first investments.[5]
%2c_Ron_Conway_(Angel_Investors_LP)_and_Paul_Pelosi_(Financial_Leasing_Services_Inc.)_(7986581990)_(cropped).jpg)
Blum foundedBlum Capital in 1975.[8] Blum previously served as chairman of the board of directors of CB Richard Ellis,[9][10] as well as serving as director on the boards of directors of three other portfolio companies: Fairmont Raffles Holdings International Ltd., Current Media, L.L.C., and Myer Pty Ltd. in Australia.[11] Blum co-foundedNewbridge Capital in 1994.[12]
Blum served on the boards of multiple companies, including Northwest Airlines Corporation,[13] Glenborough Realty Trust, Inc., Korea First Bank,[10]URS Corporation,[14] and National Education Corporation.[15] Blum was the founder and chairman of theAmerican Himalayan Foundation[16] and was Honorary Consul toMongolia andNepal.[17] Blum was also a member of the advisory board ofBerkeley'sHaas School of Business.[18]
On March 12, 2002, Blum was appointed by California GovernorGray Davis to a 12-year term as one of theRegents of the University of California.[19] He was reappointed to another 12-year term in 2014 by GovernorJerry Brown.[3]
On April 25, 2009, at a talk featuring the14th Dalai Lama, Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgenau presented Blum with the Berkeley Medal, the university's top honor. The talk was sponsored by his American Himalayan Foundation and the Blum Center for Developing Economies at Berkeley.[20]
Blum was also the primary owner ofCareer Education Corporation until 2015[21][22] and served on the boards of theCB Richard Ellis (chairman),Newbridge Capital (co-chairman), andBlum Capital.[3]
.jpg)
Blum had a strong interest inTibet andTibetan Buddhism, and in 1981 he attempted to climbMount Everest from the Tibetan side withSir Edmund Hillary.[23][24] He was the chairman and founder of the apoliticalAmerican Himalayan Foundation (AHF), which has given millions of dollars to build hospitals and schools inTibet andNepal, but refrained from political involvement with the Chinese control of Tibet.[25]
Blum was at various times a trustee ofThe Carter Center; co-chairman ofThe World Conference of Religions for Peace;[10] member of Governing Council ofThe Wilderness Society;[3] member of the board of trustees of theBrookings Institution; member of the board of trustees of theAmerican Cancer Society Foundation; member of the board of directors of theNational Democratic Institute;[26] and a member of the board of trustees of the Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. He contributed $15 million toward the establishment of the center, which addresses extreme poverty and disease in the developing world. In 2019, Blum provided an additional $12 million to endow a chair at the center.[27][28]
He donated to the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), Merced and Los Angeles (UCLA) andSonoma State University, as well asMacalester College. He pledged $1.25 million to theUniversity of San Francisco (USF) in 2007, and another $1.5 million to USF for "global education" in 2019.[29] He was awarded theUCSF medal in 2012.[30] He served on many other boards, including theSeva Foundation and as chairman of the Himalayan Foundation.[31] In the arts and culture, he made grants to the Creative Visions Foundation, theDaniel Pearl Foundation, San Francisco'sAsian Art Museum, theSan Francisco Conservatory of Music, and theGeffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.[29]
Blum was diagnosed withlung cancer in 2016.[32] He was hospitalized in September 2021 for an undisclosed reason.[33] He died from cancer at his home in San Francisco on February 27, 2022, at the age of 86.[4][34]
Blum's wife,US SenatorDianne Feinstein, was criticized over Blum's government contracts and business dealings with thePeople's Republic of China and her past votes on trade agreements with that country. Blum denied any wrongdoing.[35]
Blum and Feinstein were also criticized for having a 75% stake inTutor Perini, a building contractor which received military contracts for projects inIraq andAfghanistan during the U.S. occupation of those countries.[36][37]
In 2008, during thesub-prime mortgage crisis, Feinstein contacted theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation with a proposal to fund the FDIC's foreclosed-property dealings through the US government's general budget. Not long afterward, Blum's real estate firm, CB Richard Ellis, won a lucrative contract with theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation to sell foreclosed properties.[38]
In 2020, Blum was discovered to have written letters on behalf of unqualified applicants to various UC campus chancellors.[39] The applicants were admitted through student athletics programs, even though, according to a state audit “they possessed little athletic talent.”[40] The audit described Blum's actions as "particularly problematic" as University Regents should not influence admissions decisions.[41]
Two years earlier he had summited the world's second highest peak after Everest – K2, in Pakistan. My dear friend Sir Edmund Hillary came as well as an adviser. At age sixty-two, he couldn't pass up another opportunity to see Tibet and rough it with us for weeks in an Everest base camp.