Richard C. Blum
Richard C. Blum | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 31, 1935 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 27, 2022 (aged 86) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, investor, philanthropist |
| Known for | Chairman and president of Blum Capital; University of California Regent; chairman of CB Richard Ellis |
| Spouse | Dianne Feinstein |
Richard Charles Blum (July 31, 1935 – February 27, 2022) was a prominent American financier and the spouse of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. He held the roles of chairman and president at Blum Capital, a firm specializing in equity investment management. Blum also occupied various corporate board seats, including serving as chairman of CB Richard Ellis until May 2009. From 2002 until his passing, he was a regent.
Early life
Born into a Jewish family in San Francisco, Blum was the son of Louise (Hirsch) and Herbert Blum, who were engaged in selling robes and raincoats. He attended public schools in San Francisco before earning a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1958 and an MBA in 1959 from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
During the 1970s, Blum was a supporter of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. After Moscone’s assassination, he shifted his support to the succeeding mayor, Dianne Feinstein, whom he married in 1980. From his first marriage to Andrea Schwartz, Blum had three daughters.
Career
At age 23, Blum began his career at investment brokerage Sutro & Co., becoming a partner before turning 30. While at Sutro, he orchestrated the purchase of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for $8 million and later sold it to Mattel for $40 million. Building on this success, he established what is now known as Blum Capital Partners in 1975; one of his initial investments was a stake in URS Corp..
Blum held the chairmanship of CB Richard Ellis and served on the boards of Fairmont Raffles Holdings International Ltd., Current Media, L.L.C., and Australia's Myer Pty Ltd. In 1994, he co-founded Newbridge Capital.
His governance roles extended to Northwest Airlines Corporation, Glenborough Realty Trust, Korea First Bank, URS Corporation, and National Education Corporation. Additionally, Blum founded and chaired the American Himalayan Foundation and acted as honorary consul for both Mongolia and Nepal. He also contributed as an advisory board member at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Appointed by Governor Gray Davis in 2002, Blum completed a twelve-year tenure as a University of California Regent and was reappointed in 2014 by Governor Jerry Brown. In recognition of his philanthropic efforts through the American Himalayan Foundation and the Blum Center for Developing Economies, Berkeley honored him with its highest accolade, the Berkeley Medal, in 2009.
Until 2015, Blum was the principal owner of Career Education Corporation and maintained board memberships at CB Richard Ellis (as chairman), Newbridge Capital (as co-chairman), and Blum Capital.
Personal life
Blum possessed a deep fascination with Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. In 1981, he attempted an ascent of Mount Everest from Tibet alongside Sir Edmund Hillary. He founded and led the apolitical American Himalayan Foundation (AHF), which has funded hospitals and schools across Tibet and Nepal, deliberately steering clear of political disputes surrounding Chinese governance over Tibet.
His philanthropic commitments included serving as trustee for The Carter Center, co-chairing The World Conference of Religions for Peace, participating on the Governing Council of The Wilderness Society, holding board trustee positions with both the Brookings Institution and the American Cancer Society Foundation, acting as director for the National Democratic Institute, and serving as trustee for the Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley. He donated $15 million to establish this center focused on combating extreme poverty and disease, later adding $12 million in 2019 to endow an academic chair there.
Blum’s charitable activities spanned multiple University of California campuses including San Francisco (UCSF), Merced, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as institutions like Sonoma State University and Macalester College. In 2007, he pledged $1.25 million to the University of San Francisco (USF), followed by an additional $1.5 million in 2019 to support global education programs. UCSF awarded him its medal in 2012. His patronage also extended to cultural organizations such as the Creative Visions Foundation, the Daniel Pearl Foundation, San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse.
After being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016, Blum experienced a brief hospitalization in September 2021. He passed away due to cancer at his residence in San Francisco on February 27, 2022, at age 86.
Controversy
US Senator Dianne Feinstein, Blum's spouse, encountered criticism related to Blum's government contracts and commercial activities involving the People's Republic of China, as well as her previous votes on trade agreements with that nation. Blum refuted any allegations of misconduct.
Both Blum and Feinstein were examined due to their combined 75% ownership in Tutor Perini, a construction firm that received military contracts during the U.S. military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis, Feinstein advocated for financing the FDIC’s sales of foreclosed properties through federal budget allocations. Soon after, CB Richard Ellis, Blum's real estate company, was awarded a profitable contract by the FDIC to manage these property sales.
In 2020, it came to light that Blum had penned letters endorsing unqualified candidates to chancellors at University of California campuses. These individuals gained admission through athletic programs despite lacking genuine athletic credentials, as revealed by a state audit. The report characterized Blum's involvement as "particularly problematic," emphasizing that admissions decisions should remain free from influence by University Regents.
As author
- Himalaya: Personal Stories of Grandeur, Challenge, and Hope (2006), National Geographic Books
- An Accident of Geography: Compassion, Innovation, and the Fight Against Poverty (2016), Greenleaf Book Group Press
External links
- Blum Capital Partners, L.P.
- Blum's Plums: Conflicts of Interest Benefitted Blum's Firms During His Term as a UC Regent, North Bay Bohemian, February 21, 2007
- 1935 births
- 2022 deaths
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 21st-century American businesspeople
- American chief executives of financial services companies
- American investment bankers
- Businesspeople from San Francisco
- Career Education Corporation
- Deaths from lung cancer in California
- Haas School of Business alumni
- Jewish American bankers
- Private equity and venture capital investors
- University of California regents