Source: Seattle Times and PageOneQ
Ric Weiland, who helped his high school friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen launch Microsoft, was a quiet philanthropist. But his final gift has provided one of the most powerful financial boosts ever to the gay-rights movement.
Weiland has left $65 million to the Pride Foundation in Seattle and 10 nonprofit organizations, believed to be the largest estate gift ever given to the gay and lesbian community in the U.S.
For the Pride Foundation, which has an annual budget of $2.5 million and endowment of $3 million, Weiland's gift of more than $19 million will significantly expand its efforts throughout the Northwest.
The Weiland estate's bequest -- the largest ever in support of the LGBT movement --also directs the Pride Foundation to distribute another $46 million to 10 national organizations over eight years.
Recipients will include the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Network, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. For most of them, the bequest is the largest gift in their history.
"My hope is this will inspire others to engage as donors and volunteers," said Audrey Haberman, the foundation's executive director.
Weiland started out giving small donations to the Pride Foundation 18 years ago, contributing a total of $3 million during his lifetime. He also did volunteer work and served on the board of directors.
The Pride Foundation provides scholarships and grants to LGBT students and organizations in the Pacific Northwest.
His generosity didn't stop with LGBT groups.
Weiland left $160 million, the majority of his estate, to charity. That includes a gift to Stanford University estimated to be worth $60 million, which the university said is the largest bequest it has ever received. Weiland also gave significant amounts toward environmental protection and scientific research.
Weiland, one of the first five Microsoft employees, committed suicide in 2006 at age 53.
It has taken more than a year to sort out his estate, and the full scope of Weiland's giving is now starting to emerge. The first disbursements began last summer and will be completed sometime this year.
The money will support anti-discrimination campaigns and programs to help youths, develop future leaders and provide scholarships.
"It's a gigantic investment in our equal-rights movement," said Zan McColloch-Lussier, the Pride Foundation's director of communications. "It will be here long after our kids' kids are gone."
Shortly after Weiland's death in 2006, his friends told the Seattle Times that he did not seek acclaim for his contributions.
"He often specifically asked for no special attention for his giving," said Haberman. "He, in fact, was sometimes uncomfortable with too much recognition."
Mr. Weiland spent several years on the board of the foundation, which used its ownership of stock in some public companies to advocate for change.
Haberman recalled how Mr. Weiland stepped out of his comfort zone to challenge a corporate giant.
Mr. Weiland, "who was not a big public speaker," once traveled to General Electric's corporate headquarters and addressed its then-chief executive, Jack Welch, in front of some 2,000 people gathered for a shareholders meeting, she said. He explained how adding sexual orientation to the company's anti-discrimination policy would help GE retain employees and be a corporate leader.
She said Mr. Weiland told the GE meeting that at Microsoft, "he could be his whole self in his work and what a profound experience that was for him."
The foundation, in collaboration with a New York group, sponsored a shareholder resolution that prompted GE to change its policies in 2000.
Full article: Seattle man who helped launch Microsoft left $65M for gay rights | Seattle Times
PageOneQ | Gay man bequeaths $65 million to LGBT groups