Clinton foundation releases donor list
Posted: Thursday, December 18, 2008 1:33 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
After more than a year of public debate, the Clinton Foundation released its list of donors today, a move widely viewed as part of a deal between the Clintons and Obama to ensure Clinton's appointment as Secretary of State.
It's a splashy list that includes foreign entities, including Saudi Arabia and Dubai; controversial characters close Clinton, like Stephen L. Bing and Frank Giustra; charities, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNITAID of the World Health Organization and the ambiguous Children’s Investment Fund Foundation; and celebrity organizations, like the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Princess Diana Memorial Fund
The nearly 3,000 Web-page list is here and is listed from largest donors to smallest. We'll update with more, but here's a quick sampling from page 1.
$25 million +
UNITAID, a group administered by the World Health Organization
Children's Investment Fund Foundation: There's very little information on the London-based group's Web site as to the source of the funds, but the New York Times wrote: “Christopher Cooper-Hohn and his wife, Jamie, follow a simple economic formula: he makes money, and she gives it away. Mr. Cooper-Hohn runs the Children's Investment Fund, or T.C.I., a successful -- and controversial -- hedge fund that has become a gadfly to corporate giants like CSX, the American railroad. Ms. Cooper-Hohn leads an affiliated charity, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, which uses some of the profits that T.C.I. earns to finance programs for underprivileged children. The partnership has made the Cooper-Hohns the most generous philanthropists in Britain. Last weekend, their foundation reported a $439 million ($856 million) jump in funds for fiscal 2007, reflecting $324 million in donations from T.C.I. and the Cooper-Hohns. In an interview, Ms. Cooper-Hohn dismissed the notion that the charity is a ploy to soften Mr. Cooper-Hohn's hard-charging image. … It worked with the Clinton Foundation to cut prices of H.I.V. drugs for children in a housing project, and it shepherded economic and nutritional programs for children and families affected by H.I.V. and AIDS in India.”
$10M-25M
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Stephen L. Bing, Clinton friend, who was written about in Vanity Fair by Todd Purdham: "Burkle’s usual means of transport is the custom-converted Boeing 757 that Clinton calls “Ron Air” and that Burkle’s own circle of young aides privately refer to as “Air F--- One.” Clinton himself had arrived on the private plane of another California friend, the real-estate heir, Democratic donor, liberal activist, and sometime movie and music producer Steve Bing, whose colorful private life includes fathering a child out of wedlock with the actress Elizabeth Hurley and suing the billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian for invasion of privacy, alleging that private investigators for Kerkorian swiped Bing’s dental floss out of his trash in a successful effort to prove that Bing’s DNA matched that of a child delivered by Kerkorian’s ex-wife, the former tennis pro Lisa Bonder. (The suit was later settled out of court.) ... Bing, 43, who helped finance Shine a Light, the recent Martin Scorsese documentary about the Rolling Stones, and who has given tens of millions to environmental and other causes dear to Clinton’s heart in recent years, is described as very well read, thoughtful, interesting—and willing to stay up long into the night indulging Clinton’s craving for conversational companionship."
Frank Giustra, Canadian mining financier. Clinton traveled to Kazakhstan with Giustra, where they both met and dined with the lightning rod 19-year president of the country. "Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic support for the Kazakh leader’s bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy," the New York Times wrote. "Mr. Clinton’s public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton’s wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
"Within two days, corporate records show that Mr. Giustra also came up a winner when his company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom. The monster deal stunned the mining industry, turning an unknown shell company into one of the world’s largest uranium producers in a transaction ultimately worth tens of millions of dollars to Mr. Giustra, analysts said."
Citi Foundation, former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is director and senior counselor there. And Lisa Caputo, who was Hillary Clinton’s press secretary, is executive vice president of global marketing and corporate affairs for Citi.
Tom Golisano, Paychex (payroll processing) billionaire New Yorker, who ran and failed in three bids for governor. He is thought to have a networth of $1.7 billion; was named one of Forbes' 400 Richest People in America. He carries around $1,000 to $2,000 dollars in cash on him in a money clip. He doesn't use a wallet.
Fred Eychaner, Democratic donor, Hillary funder
Haim Saban, producer most notably in the 1990s for Power Rangers. He also created the soundtracks for cartoon hits Inspector Gadget, He-Man.
Nasser Al-Rashid, billionaire Saudi business owner, who owns reportedly one of the largest -- if not the largest -- yachts in the world. He has a couple of degrees from the University of Texas and is the financier and namesake of the Texas Football weight room.
