David Tepper
/SOURCE of WEALTH: Appaloosa Management
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Hunger, Health, Jewish Causes
OVERVIEW: David Tepper supports education, hunger and poverty, health and Jewish Causes through the Tepper Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded a little over $59 million in grants in a recent year.
BACKGROUND: David Tepper holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon. Early in his career, he worked at Equibank, Republic Steel and Keystone Mutual Funds. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1985 and rose to a managerial rank. After failing to make partner at Goldman, he founded his own firm, Appaloosa Management, which became one of the highest-earning hedge funds of the 2010’s. Tepper is the owner of the Carolina Panthers football team.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: A large share of Tepper’s education philanthropy has been directed toward Carnegie Mellon University. In 2003, Tepper gave $55 million to the university’s business school, which was renamed the Tepper School of Business. In 2013, he gave another $67 million for the creation of the Tepper Quadrangle, an “innovation hub” designed to promote collaboration between Carnegie Mellon’s seven schools. Other higher education grantees include the University of Pittsburgh and Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of Arts. In his home state of New Jersey, Tepper and his former colleague Alan Fournier founded Better Education for Kids, which advocates for education reform in the state. Tepper has also supported Teach for America and the Harlem Children’s Zone. Baylor University received $1 million gift from the foundation in 2020.
HUNGER & POVERTY: Tepper serves on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation, which aims to “improve the living standards for 1.8 million low-income New Yorkers.” His foundation has supported the outfit steadily over the years and gave it $1.3 million in 2019. The Tepper Foundation has supported food access and distribution efforts, with grants going to national antipoverty organizations like United Way, Feeding America and ReFED, which works to cut food loss and waste in support of national and international goals. Other past grantees addressing hunger include the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, Feeding America and the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Tepper also serves on the board of Blue Meridian Partners and has committed at least $50 million to the organization.
HEALTH: Tepper supports health broadly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tepper contributed around $25 million to relief efforts, particularly focused on food distribution in North Carolina and New Jersey in partnership with Feeding America, which has received millions from the foundation. Past grantees include the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, the Charlotte COVID-19 Response Fund, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
JEWISH CAUSES: Tepper has supported Jewish organizations including the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest New Jersey, Jewish Federation of North America, Jewish Federation of Metrowest, and the Anti-Defamation League.
LOOKING FORWARD: In recent years, Tepper has expanded his foundation and ramped up his giving. Expect his interest in education reform and hunger in New York and New Jersey to continue. And he is likely to increase his giving in Florida, now that the family has relocated there.
CONTACT:
The David Tepper Charitable Foundation
c/o Appaloosa 51 JFK Pkwy, No 250B
Livingston, NJ 07078
(931) 701-7000
