Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on December 9, 2024.
As the winter chill descends upon much of the United States, sun lovers are once again flocking to the Sunshine State for a vacation or an extended stay. Besides its mild weather, Florida is also attractive for its business-friendly climate, and it’s a state where Wall Streeters, tech winners and more have set down roots — and have put forward serious philanthropic cash.
There are also, by the way, plenty of wealthy businesspeople and philanthropists who call South Florida home all year round, including billionaire couple Jorge and Darlene Perez, whom I profiled along with their children last year, as well as marketing maven Jose Dans and his wife Heide. Both couples were clear on the importance of supporting the Florida philanthropic ecosystem.
But what does that ecosystem consist of, and how is it changing? Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of the Miami Foundation, came to the Magic City more than a decade and a half ago. She told me that during the height of the pandemic, South Florida saw an influx of people from California, Chicago and New York. One of her questions early on was whether these new arrivals would actually make Miami a focus for their giving. She is encouraged that she can always point to couples like Jorge and Darlene Perez for their steady support, including for Miami Foundation’s Racial Equity Fund and the couple’s work in disaster relief.
Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy crunched the numbers on Florida philanthropy in 2022 and noted that in 2007, charitable giving by Floridians reached $12.8 billion but dropped after the Great Recession to $9.9 billion. Giving returned to pre-recession levels by 2015 and soared to nearly $18 billion in 2017; in 2018, the number of Florida donors reporting charitable contributions to the Internal Revenue Service dropped by nearly 63% — thank the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for that.
There are some signs that Florida philanthropy will continue its upward climb, however — particularly if the influx of billionaires continues. My colleague Mike Scutari recently did a deep dive into hedge fund megabillionaire Ken Griffin’s philanthropy, which has historically focused on cities like Chicago and New York. But since 2023, he has given a flurry of gifts in his new South Florida backyard, including $25 million to fund a five-story tower at Miami’s Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
Here are some key funders to keep an eye on in what some call “Wall Street South,” with a focus on living donors and family foundations.
Adrienne Arsht
The 11th woman admitted to the Delaware Bar, Arsht is known as chair emerita of TotalBank and for her giving in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, steering the Arsht-Cannon Fund at the Delaware Community Foundation, created in 2004 from the estate of her parents. But she’s also active in South Florida, where she lived for a decade and now engages in some serious arts and culture giving.
“Growing up, I was lucky enough to have music around me at all times,” Arsht once told me. In 2008, she donated $30 million to rescue a performing arts center in Miami and name it the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. The multifaceted center includes other donor-backed venues like the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House and the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall. Arsht has poured millions into the center since then, including an $11 million endowment gift in 2022 to support a paid internship program.
There are signs that the philanthropy Arsht, 82, is engaged in now will deepen upon her passing. She told Philanthropy Roundtable, “On my death, a foundation will be created, and I have asked a few friends to oversee the donations.” That could spell even more support for South Florida organizations.
Dan and Trish Bell
Dan Bell cofounded Kos Pharmaceuticals in Miami. The Bells have been major contributors to Chapman Partnership, which manages homeless shelters in the city, as well as the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science and the Baptist Health Foundation, to which they gave a $2 million gift in 2022. They also supported the FIU Foundation.
They lead the Bell Family Foundation along with their children, who are also on the board. Recent foundation grantees have included human services organization Branches, and First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables.
Ken Griffin
In spring of 2024, hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, worth $47 billion, made back-to-back $50 million gifts, to Baptist Health Foundation, creating the Kenneth C. Griffin Center at Miami Neuroscience Institute to advance research related to neuroscience and neurodegenerative disorders, and to the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center for a new cancer research building and program.
It was a clear sign that Griffin was committed to doubling down on South Florida giving after his Citadel LLC’s offices moved from Chicago to Miami. According to Forbes, the billionaire has given some $2.3 billion to philanthropic causes through the years. As my colleague Mike Scutari recently reported, this flurry of Florida giving really took off in the first half of 2023. Some of the gifts include an $8 million donation for West Palm Beach’s Cox Science Center and Aquarium’s capital campaign, and a $20 million donation for scholarships to Miami Dade College for local students.
Griffin once moved philanthropy through the Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation with his ex-wife, but now works through his new his new philanthropic initiative, Griffin Catalyst. One funded project, The Underline, supports a 10-mile-long linear park in the tradition of New York City’s High Line, running beneath an elevated rail through a diverse array of Miami communities.
Jose and Heide Dans
Born to Cuban parents in New Jersey, Miami businessman Jose Dans has called South Florida home since he was a child. He went on to found WOW MKTG, a top ad agency in the state, with clients including CVS Pharmacy, Kia, Norwegian Cruise Line and Walt Disney World.
On the philanthropic front, he and his wife have supported local organizations including Chapman Partnership, which manages homeless shelters in Miami, Dolphins Cancer Challenge and his alma mater Christopher Columbus High School, where he set up a scholarship program.
Dans told me he has also looked to other affluent figures in the region as they build out their philanthropy, connecting with Dan and Trish Bell, inspired by their vision of philanthropy. “We kind of tried to model our life after them,” Dans said. “They’re the biggest givers I’ve ever met. They have the best heart of anybody I’ve ever met.”
Jorge and Darlene Perez
Argentina-raised billionaire Jorge Pérez’s Related Group has built and managed over 100,000 condo and apartment residences, including in Miami, a city that has become a philanthropic hotspot for this billionaire family, now in its second generation of giving.
As of last winter, the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation and personal donations from Jorge and Darlene accounted for some $214 million to organizations focused on arts and culture, health and wellbeing, education, the environment, and economic development — all with an eye toward Florida.
Darlene Pérez, a veteran nurse practitioner, told me her main focus has always been healthcare. Jorge, meanwhile, is an avid art collector. All four Pérez children are engaged in charity on some level. “My parents always showed us the importance of giving back. When you have wealth, you have the responsibility to help others,” daughter Christina told me.
Florida donations have included Miami Waterkeeper, Big Brothers Big Sisters Miami and the foundation’s own CreARTE Grants Program, which has invested more than $5 million in Miami-Dade organizations working to cultivate Miami’s arts ecosystem.
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Phillip and Patricia Frost
Eighty-eight-year-old healthcare investor billionaire Phillip Frost and his longtime educator wife, Patricia, live in Miami Beach. The couple, Giving Pledge signatories, have donated more than $130 million to the University of Miami alone. They also made a $35 million gift last decade to create the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science. They have supported an assortment of other arts, health and Jewish organizations. With no children, a lot more Frost money may yet benefit Miami and South Florida nonprofits.
David Tepper
Hedge fund billionaire David Tepper runs the Tepper Foundation, which works across several key interest areas, with a significant increase in grantmaking of late. In 2023, Tepper distributed $65 million, nearly tripling its grantmaking from 2021.
Traditionally, a lot of Tepper’s grantmaking has focused on the New York metro area and the Northeast at large, including his alma mater Carnegie Mellon, home to the Tepper School of Business.
But the billionaire has also taken up residence in Palm Beach, Florida, and has shown a willingness to support Florida nonprofits across interest areas like Jewish causes, food and housing, and community impact. Grantees have included Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, including a $1 million gift to combat antisemitism, and Feeding South Florida. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, meanwhile, the Tepper Foundation gave $3 million to fund relief and recovery efforts.
Billi Marcus and the Marcus Foundation
The late Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus and his wife Billi have a track record of Florida philanthropy. Bernie Marcus passed away the day before Election Day this year in Boca Raton, Florida, where he previously backed the Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital. And just a few weeks before he passed, the Marcus Foundation made a sizable $32 million grant to Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital, doubling down on its long-running support for the institution. He had given some $75 million to the institution through the years.
As a sign of what’s to come, on December 4, Florida Atlantic University received a $6 million grant from the Marcus Foundation. The grant will expand the scope and services of FAU Medicine’s Marcus Institute of Integrative Health. While the late billionaire’s largesse will likely continue to impact the Sunshine State through additional support from the Marcus Foundation, guided in part by the family, there is a time-limited aspect to this giving. When I interviewed Marcus in January, he made it clear that the foundation would shutter in 20 years.
Tom Golisano
The payroll processing billionaire made waves in late September by surprising 82 nonprofit organizations with a $360 million commitment in unrestricted grants. The beneficiaries, all in Upstate New York, work on causes including animals, education and healthcare for developmentally disabled children.
But Golisano also engages in major philanthropy in Southwestern Florida, where he has a home. In a similar flurry of giving in late November, the Golisano Foundation made a $85 million commitment to 41 nonprofit organizations across southwest Florida including the previously supported Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida ($10 million), Naples Comprehensive Health ($5 million), Ave Maria University ($10 million) and Guadalupe Center ($3 million).
Golisano is a deep believer in place-based giving and told me in October, “I think by sort of specializing in one geographic area we have probably added to the effectiveness of that area more so than if it was all spread around.”
Micky Arison and the Arison Family
Billionaire Micky Arison chairs Carnival Corporation and owns the Miami Heat basketball team. The Arison clan has long been involved in Florida business and philanthropic life, including through the Ted Arison Family Foundation, which bears the name of the late Ted Arison, founder of Carnival Cruise Lines. The Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation has a much more muted public presence and regularly moves millions of dollars through a DAF at the National Philanthropic Trust, obscuring the full scope of its giving.
However, recent Micky and Madeleine Arison Family Foundation grantees have run the gamut from the arts and human services to disaster relief, including New World Symphony, Feeding South Florida, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami, and Overtown Youth Center, which was cofounded by legendary Miami Heat player Alonzo Mourning.
Jeff Greene and Mei Sze Chan
Real estate entrepreneur Greene and his wife, Mei Sze Chan, are Giving Pledge signatories. So at least in theory, the majority of their wealth should eventually go to philanthropy. For now, though, Greene’s philanthropy is hard to track. Education is one focus area: Greene and Chan founded the Greene School in Palm Beach. The school serves students in grades pre-K through 12. Greene has also given modest sums to other cultural and civic institutions in South and Central Florida, including the Everglades Foundation and the Central Florida YMCA Foundation.
David Nicholson
Hedge fund pioneer David Nicholson runs the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation, a private family foundation launched in Jupiter, Florida, in 1992, which strongly focuses on education. Recent philanthropy includes $9.22 million toward the construction of a neuroscience building at the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute at Florida Atlantic University, as well as gifts to Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches, Cox Science Center and Aquarium and Education Foundation of Palm Beach County.
Note: This article has been updated to include mention of Ken Griffin’s $50 million gift to the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and to clarify that Griffin’s Miami Dade College scholarships donation was for $20 million.
