Arnon Milchan
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: New Regency Enterprises
FUNDING AREAS: Israel, Arts
OVERVIEW: Arnon Milchan keeps a low profile and his philanthropic record is hard to track. He has shown an interest in support for Israeli institutions. He is also a top art collector.
BACKGROUND: Arnon Milchan was born in Rehovot, in what is now Israel, during the British Mandate. In the early 1960s, Milchan was a star center forward for Maccabi Tel Aviv and the national soccer team. He transformed his family's bankrupt fertilizer company into a $125 million business. Milchan attended the London School of Economics and the University of Geneva. In 1991, Milchan founded New Regency Productions and has since become a major Hollywood producer, with such films as Fight Club, Pretty Woman and Little Women (2019) to his credit.
ISSUES:
ISRAEL: Last decade, Milchan pledged $100 million to open a new university in Galilee, Israel, though the project stalled and its current status is unclear. Milchan also gave $1 million to the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv, for which he also served as chairman.
OTHER: Milchan was a board member of The Silver Lining Foundation, which supports cancer treatment for children. He is a top Hollywood art collector, owning works by Picasso, Pissarro, and Basquiat, among others. Milchan is also a painter himself.
LOOKING FORWARD: Because Milchan and family give independently of a formal family foundation, the giving is hard to track and some important gifts may be missing from this rundown. The billionaire is worth watching, particularly for grant seekers in the Jewish community. He has spoken about an energy project in Israel.
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