Richard C. Blum Explained

Caption:Blum in 2009
Birth Name:Richard Charles Blum
Birth Date:31 July 1935
Birth Place:San Francisco, California, U.S.
Death Place:San Francisco, California, U.S.
Education:University of California, Berkeley (BS, MBA)
Spouse:
    Children:3

    Richard Charles Blum (July 31, 1935  - February 27, 2022) was an American investor and the husband of United States Senator Dianne Feinstein.[1] He was the chairman and president of Blum Capital, an equity investment management firm. Blum was on the boards of directors of several companies, including CB Richard Ellis, where until May 2009 he served as the chairman of that board. He was a regent of the University of California from 2002[2] until his death.[3]

    Early life and education

    Blum was born in San Francisco, California, to a Jewish 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 in business administration in 1958 and a Master of Business Administration in 1959 from the Haas School of Business of the University of California, Berkeley.[3] [6]

    In the 1970s, Blum supported then Mayor of San Francisco George Moscone.[4] After Moscone's assassination, Blum supported the new mayor Dianne Feinstein; they married in 1980. Blum had three daughters from his first marriage to Andrea Schwartz Blum.[7]

    Career

    Blum joined investment brokerage Sutro & Co. at the age of 23, becoming a partner before age 30. At Sutro, Blum led a partnership that acquired Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for $8 million, selling it to Mattel four years later for $40 million. On the back of this deal Blum started in business for himself in 1975, founding what is now Blum Capital Partners; a stake in URS Corp. was one of its first investments.

    Blum founded Blum 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-founded Newbridge Capital in 1994.[12]

    Blum served on the boards of multiple companies, including Northwest Airlines Corporation,[13] Glenborough Realty Trust, Inc., Korea First Bank, URS Corporation,[14] and National Education Corporation.[15] Blum was the founder and chairman of the American Himalayan Foundation[16] and was Honorary Consul to Mongolia and Nepal.[17] Blum was also a member of the advisory board of Berkeley's Haas School of Business.[18]

    On March 12, 2002, Blum was appointed by California Governor Gray Davis to a 12-year term as one of the Regents of the University of California.[19] He was reappointed to another 12-year term in 2014 by Governor Jerry Brown.[3]

    On April 25, 2009, at a talk featuring the 14th 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 of Career Education Corporation until 2015[21] [22] and served on the boards of the CB Richard Ellis (chairman), Newbridge Capital (co-chairman), and Blum Capital.[3]

    Personal life

    Blum had a strong interest in Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, and in 1981 he attempted to climb Mount Everest from the Tibetan side with Sir Edmund Hillary.[23] [24] He was the chairman and founder of the apolitical American Himalayan Foundation (AHF), which has given millions of dollars to build hospitals and schools in Tibet and Nepal, but refrained from political involvement with the Chinese control of Tibet.[25]

    Blum was at various times a trustee of The Carter Center; co-chairman of The World Conference of Religions for Peace; member of Governing Council of The Wilderness Society; member of the board of trustees of the Brookings Institution; member of the board of trustees of the American Cancer Society Foundation; member of the board of directors of the National Democratic Institute;[26] and a member of the board of trustees of the Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University 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) and Sonoma State University, as well as Macalester College. He pledged $1.25 million to the University of San Francisco (USF) in 2007, and another $1.5 million to USF for "global education" in 2019.[29] He was awarded the UCSF medal in 2012.[30] He served on many other boards, including the Seva Foundation and as chairman of the Himalayan Foundation.[31] In the arts and culture, he made grants to the Creative Visions Foundation, the Daniel Pearl Foundation, San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.

    Blum was diagnosed with lung 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]

    Controversy

    Blum's wife, Senator Dianne Feinstein, was criticized over Blum's government contracts and business dealings with the People's Republic of China and her past votes on trade issues with the country, however he denied any wrongdoing.[35]

    Blum and his wife were also criticized for having a 75% stake in contractor Tutor Perini, which received assets in military contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan during the U.S. occupation of those countries.[36] [37]

    In 2009, Feinstein introduced legislation to provide $25 billion in taxpayer money to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, a government agency that had awarded her husband's real estate firm, CB Richard Ellis.[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 be influencing admissions decisions.[41]

    Books

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: AHF Annual Dinner : Events . October 11, 2010 . American Himalayan Foundation . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140728204809/http://www.himalayan-foundation.org/events/112920 . July 28, 2014.
    2. News: Deal-Maker's Worlds Mesh at Party in S.F. . Rone . Tempest . November 18, 2005 . Los Angeles Times.
    3. Web site: Regent Emeritus Richard C. Blum. University of California Board of Regents. Regents of the University of California. 1 October 2023.
    4. News: Richard Blum dies: S.F. financier, UC regent and husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein . Nanette . Asimov . February 28, 2022 . San Francisco Chronicle.
    5. News: The man behind URS, next to Sen. Feinstein . Tom . Abate . May 11, 2003 . . I1–I2.
    6. Web site: Richard C. Blum, BS 58, MBA 59. Spring 2022. BerkeleyHaas. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. 1 October 2023.
    7. News: San Francisco Mayor Is Planning To Marry an Investment Banker . March 5, 1979 . The New York Times.
    8. News: Zuckerman. Gregory. Eder. Steve. November 11, 2011. Seeing Winners Become Losers. en-US. Wall Street Journal. August 26, 2020. 0099-9660.
    9. Web site: Fader. Carole. Fact Check: Did Sen. Feinstein get a sweetheart deal on post office sales for her husband?. August 26, 2020. The Florida Times-Union. en.
    10. Web site: March 13, 2002. Davis names investor Blum to UC Board of Regents / Husband of Sen. Feinstein is a Berkeley grad. August 26, 2020. SFGate.
    11. Web site: April 1, 2010. Richard Blum Joins SF Fed Econ Advisory Council. August 26, 2020. PE Hub. en-US.
    12. Web site: Bunting. Glenn. March 28, 1997. Feinstein, Husband Hold Strong China Connections. August 26, 2020. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
    13. Web site: Sward. Susan. June 12, 2000. Critics Question Impartiality of SFO Runway Study / Feinstein's husband part-owner of firm conducting report and has 6% stake in Northwest Airlines. August 26, 2020. SFGate.
    14. Web site: Abate. Tom. May 11, 2003. PROFILE / Richard Blum / The man behind URS, next to Sen. Feinstein. August 26, 2020. SFGate.
    15. Web site: Willman. David. September 16, 1990. CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS: GOVERNOR : Feinstein Defends Husband's Role in Selloff of Stock. August 26, 2020. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
    16. Web site: Groves. Martha. May 27, 1990. The Man Behind the Woman Who Would Be Governor : Politics: Dianne Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, is a shrewd businessman, a friend of the famous, with a 'Lt. Columbo style' and a passion for distance running and Tibetan treks.. August 26, 2020. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
    17. Web site: November 9, 2001. Feinstein's Husband Named to Honorary Post. August 26, 2020. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
    18. Web site: Ross. Andrew. Matier. Phillip. March 31, 2002. Costs go up and up for BART's escalators. August 26, 2020. SFGate. en-US.
    19. Web site: At U. of California, a Systemic Governance Crisis . Doug . Lederman . March 3, 2008 . InsideHigherEd.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090109160919/http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/03/03/uc . January 9, 2009.
    20. News: Berkeley Welcomes Dalai Lama . Elizabeth . Chang . April 27, 2009 . . August 7, 2020 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090429131300/http://www.dailycal.org/article/105438/berkeley_welcomes_dalai_lama . April 29, 2009.
    21. Web site: Is UC regent's vision for higher education clouded by his investments?. Los Angeles Times. July 14, 2010. February 28, 2022.
    22. Web site: Billion Dollar Baby: The University of California invests $53 million in two diploma mills owned by a regent. Category: Page One from . The Berkeley Daily Planet . 2015-02-18.
    23. Web site: Awestruck by Everest. Accident of Geography. February 28, 2022.
    24. Web site: Blum . Richard . Kangshung Truths . An Accident of Geography . March 4, 2022 . January 2, 2017 . 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..
    25. Web site: Richard C. Blum, Investment Executive, Elected to Brookings Board of Trustees. November 30, 2001. Brookings. February 28, 2022.
    26. Web site: NDI Board of Directors: Richard Blum. October 2, 2012. National Democratic Institute.
    27. Web site: Maclay. Kathleen. April 19, 2006. Richard Blum gives $15 million to fund center to alleviate poverty. University of Berkeley.
    28. Annual Report on University Private Support: 2018-19. University of California, Office of the President. Oakland, CA. 18.
    29. Web site: Hollowell. Ashleigh. April 30, 2019. Educating Global Learners and Leaders with a Gift of $1.5 Million. August 9, 2019. University of San Francisco.
    30. Web site: UCSF Medal. July 1, 2020. Office of the Chancellor. en.
    31. Web site: Passion Project. November 2, 2019. Nob Hill Gazette. February 28, 2022.
    32. Web site: Sen. Feinstein's husband dies of cancer. The Hill. February 28, 2022 . March 6, 2022.
    33. Web site: Dianne Feinstein returns to D.C. following husband's hospitalization. February 28, 2022. September 28, 2021. San Francisco Chronicle.
    34. Web site: Senator Dianne Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, dies at 86. February 28, 2022 . ABC News. March 6, 2022.
    35. News: Feinstein's husband steps out of her shadow . subscription. Los Angeles Times . March 26, 2007 . The Mercury News. 1 October 2023.
    36. Web site: Windfalls of War: Perini Corporation . The Center for Public Integrity . 7 December 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080312111959/http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=45 . 12 March 2008.
    37. Web site: Winning Contractors . 30 October 2003 . The Center for Public Integrity . 29 July 2019.
    38. News: Exclusive: Senator's husband's firm cashes in on crisis . Chuck . Neubauer . April 21, 2009 . The Washington Times.
    39. Web site: 2020-09-24. Dianne Feinstein's husband identified as UC regent who recommended less qualified student. 2020-09-27. The Mercury News. en-US.
    40. Web site: 2020-09-22. Audit blasts UC Berkeley, UCLA for admitting rich donor kids over more qualified applicants. 2020-09-27. The Mercury News. en-US.
    41. Web site: Report 2019-113. 2020-09-27. www.auditor.ca.gov.

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