EBay founder Omidyar gives $50 million to HCF
On Oct. 27, eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar, who is on Forbes magazine’s list of 400 richest Americans, announced a gift of $50 million to the Hawaii Community Foundation, believed to be the largest single gift from a living donor in the state’s history.
The gift will fund several community initiatives over six years and support Pierre and wife Pam Omidyar’s ongoing interests through the foundation’s Omidyar Ohana Fund. Omidyar, a Kahala resident, attended Punahou School in the eighth and ninth grades from 1979 through 1981 and returned to Honolulu with his family in 2006.
“Pam and I are privileged to call Hawaii home,” Omidyar said in a statement. “Given the economic crisis and hardships throughout the state, we felt it was especially important at this time to expand our philanthropy in the islands.”
Omidyar was No. 40 on the Forbes list with an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion. The couple has supported several local causes and organizations in the Islands, including Kanu Hawaii, Mao Organic Farms in Waianae and the Ulupono Initiative, which makes nonprofit grants and for-profit investments aimed at sustainability.
“Our family was warmly welcomed by old friends and new acquaintances when we decided to make Hawaii our home,” said Pam Omidyar, who grew up in Hawaii Kai and attended Iolani School. “That experience was a strong reminder of the important role community plays in every aspect of life here in the islands.”
The Hawaii Community Foundation said the first $16 million of the gift would go toward three initiatives:
- The Omidyar Ohana Fund will provide a $4 million grant toward the Community Stabilization Initiative, an $8 million, six-year plan to help families and individuals get through the recession through use of government resources, credit counseling and mortgage prevention services.
- $6 million over six years will go to the Omidyar Innovation Fund, a grant program to be launched next year that will seek to spur innovation in Hawaii’s social sector and provide matching funds.
- A $6 million, six-year challenge grant, to be matched by other donors, will build a sustainable complex at Punahou School to be named the Omidyar Kindergarten-First Grade Neighborhood. Omidyar has served on Punahou's board of trustees since May 2007 and he attended eighth and ninth grade at the school.
The innovation fund will be open to any nonprofit, said Kelvin Taketa, the foundation’s president and CEO. “The intention is to not be limited to a particular field but to find ... organizations that are being really innovative about trying to meet their mission,” he said.
The foundation will work with the Omidyars on the disbursement of the remaining $34 million over six years, he said. The foundation will also receive a portion of the funds for administration, Taketa said.
Omidyar, who founded eBay in 1995, and his wife have also founded the Omidyar Network, Humanity United and HopeLab as part of their philanthropy work. In September, the Omidyar Network said it would spend $30 million over three years to support global entrepreneurship, especially in India and sub-Saharan Africa.
The foundation’s largest gift until now came from the estate of local businessman Robert E. Black, who left more than $60 million after his death in 1987. Actor Jack Lord, star of “Hawaii Five-O” and his wife, Marie, left more than $40 million to the foundation after Marie Lord died in 2005.
Click here for more information about the Omidyar Ohana Fund on the Hawaii Community Foundation website.
