Eli Broad, billionaire entrepreneur, philanthropist, and co-founder of SunAmerica and Kaufman and Broad, now known as KB Home, died Friday in Los Angeles at age 87, according to The Associated Press.
Broad, who began his career as a certified public accountant, partnered with one of his clients, developer Donald Kaufman, to sell new homes in the Detroit area in 1957. Their first homes sold for $12,000, about 10% less than competitors, as they were built in half the time and without basements. From there, Kaufman and Broad took their business approach west to Arizona and California. Kaufman and Broad became the first home builder to go public in 1961 and moved its headquarters to Los Angeles in 1963.
Through his philanthropic foundations, Broad has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to improving urban public education, university endowments, arts and art education, and establishing landmark civic structures, including Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall and The Broad, a contemporary art museum. Forbes magazine estimated Broad’s financial net worth at $6.9 billion on Friday.
“As a businessman Eli saw around corners, as a philanthropist he saw the problems in the world and tried to fix them, as a citizen he saw the possibility in our shared community, and as a husband, father and friend he saw the potential in each of us,” said Gerun Riley, president of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, in a statement Friday.
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