Marc and Diane Spilker
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Apollo Global Management
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Health, Jewish causes, NYC community.
OVERVIEW: Marc Spilker and his wife Diane conduct their philanthropy through the Marc and Diane Spilker Foundation, established in 1996. With interests including education, health and other causes. Much of the foundation's philanthropy goes to New York City organizations, but huge sums have gone to University of Pennsylvania, alma mater of both Marc and Diane. The foundaitio’s grantmaking is rather modest as of late. According to available tax filing, it awarded $38,500 in grants in 2016 and just $6,300 in 2017.
BACKGROUND: Marc Spilker was born and raised in Long Island. He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and went on to work for O’Connor and Associates, a Chicago derivatives trading house. Spilker worked for Goldman Sachs for two decades and became partner in 1996. He was president of Apollo Global Management from 2010 until 2014, and is a founding member of GPS Investment Partners, and chairman of Chiron Investment Management.
ISSUES
EDUCATION: Spilker and Diane have given millions to their shared alma mater, University of Pennsylvania. Along with former coworker, Marc Rowan, Spilker and Diane gave $11 million in 2012 to establish the Wharton Public Policy Initiative, whose goal is to "leverage the University’s resources to foster better-informed policymaking on issues related to business and the economy." In 2013, the Marc & Diane Spilker Foundation gave a series of grants totalling more than $1 million to University of Pennsylvania and University of Pennsylvania Scholarship Fund. The couple has given funds to Hewitt School, a private girls day school in Manhattan, where Diane sits on the board. They have also supported Harlem Village Academies, Gateway Schools, Student Sponsor Partners, Harlem RBI, Say Yes to Education, and American International Education Foundation (AIEF) in Pasadena, CA, a nonprofit that "brings together the world's finest students with the U.S. educational system."
HEALTH: Recent support has gone to Kids of NYU Langone Foundation, American Red Cross, Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering, Partners in Health, and Mount Sinai Medical Center, where Spilker has sat on the board of several departments and institutes.
JEWISH CAUSES: The couple have been steady supporters of Jewish organizations, including Central Synagogue in New York, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and UJA Federation of New York. A component of this philanthropy involves the use of art and media to promote tolerance and understanding. For instance, the Spilker Foundation has supported an exhibition titled "Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American." The Marc and Diane Spilker Foundation was also a co-producer of a documentary called Anti-Semitism In The 21st Century: The Resurgence, which aired on PBS.
NYC COMMUNITY: Spilker is on the board of The New 42nd Street, Inc., a nonprofit that originally aimed to restore seven historic theaters on 42nd Street. That outfit has received support, as have other NYC-area groups, including Ronald McDonald House of New York, High Line, and Robin Hood Foundation.
LOOKING FORWARD: Only in his 50s, Spilker is active in his philanthropy, but still very much engaged with business. It remains to be seen if giving will remain at current levels or if more money will move out the door in coming years. The couple's fortune makes them someone to watch.
CONTACT:
The Marc & Diane Spilker Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:
Marc & Diane Spilker Foundation
c/o Ayco Company
P.O. Box 15014
New York, NY 12212
