Billionaire Helps to Help Fix Washington Monument
January 25th, 2012David M. Rubenstein, the actual billionaire Bethesda philanthropist, will donate $7.5?million to help fix the shuttered, earthquake-damaged Washington Monument. It comes per month after he donated $4.5?million towards the National Zoo’s cash-strapped giant panda program as well as seven months after a $13.5?million gift to the National Archives.
The 555-foot-tall monument had been extensively broken during the 5.8-magnitude earthquake which struck the area Aug. Twenty three, and it’s already been closed since. The quake shook the monument strongly, especially near the top, severely cracking and chipping its stone obstructs. The obelisk’s lift was also broken but has since already been partially repaired. The National Recreation area Service has said it does not understand how long the monument will be closed.
Rubenstein, the son of a Baltimore postal worker, is actually co-founder and managing director of the Carlyle Team, a global asset-management company that handles $148?billion within assets, according to its Web site. He is also a member of the board associated with regents at the Smithsonian as well as chairman of Washington’s John F. Kennedy Middle for the Performing Arts, exactly where he is the only largest contributor in its history, with presents totaling $25?million. Forbes magazine estimations his really worth at $2.7?billion.
In an interview, Rubenstein, 62, stated he decided to split the actual estimated $15?million repair expenses with the authorities. Congress has allocated the government’s share. Officials had indicated that they were hunting for a donor to match the government financing. Rubenstein said he offered to key in “a kind of public-private partnership with the Ough.S. government.”
“I am committed to philanthropy,” Rubenstein said. “I devoted to giving away a large amount of my wealth. I am really involved in historic kinds of things.This is something that is quite historical.” Next month, the nation’s Archives plans to unveil the copy from the Magna Carta he bought in 07 for $21?million in a brand new, state-of-the-art display situation he funded for $322,000.