Louis Bacon
/SOURCE of WEALTH: Moore Capital Management
FUNDING AREAS: Environment, education, NYC community
OVERVIEW: The vast majority of Louis Bacon’s philanthropy has been toward environmental causes, in particular, land trusts that prevent development in certain areas. He has also been known to make donations to educational and cultural institutions, and community organizations in New York City.
BACKGROUND: Bacon graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in literature before heading to Columbia Business School. He worked for Walter Frank, Bankers Trust, and eventually Shearson Lehman before founding his own firms, first Remington Trading Partners and later Moore Capital Management. He did quite well during the market downturn in the late 80s, and founded the Moore Charitable Foundation in 1992, to provide financial support to nonprofit organizations that work to preserve and protect wildlife habitat and improve water systems. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded $10.8 million in grants in 2017. The Moore Bahamas, Orton, Trinchers Blanca, Terico, Taos Ski Valley, Robins Island and Islas Secas foundations are local affiliate organizations of the Moore Charitable Foundation.
ISSUES:
ENVIRONMENT: Bacon’s efforts in environmental protection primarily focus on the three main areas he has called home: North Carolina, New York, and Colorado, where he has created conservation easements and land trusts, including a 90,000 acre easement in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Colorado, which he to donated to the government in 2012 for a conservation area. He also supports a number of national organizations, including the Land Trust Alliance and National Resources Defense Council, conservation for animals such as Atlantic salmon and sea turtles, and projects in other areas such as the Florida Everglades, and the Bahamas.
EDUCATION: Moore has donated well over $10 million to his alma mater Middlebury College in a series of gifts of up to $2 million per year from 2005 to 2017, and recently set up a preservation fund at Middlebury's Bread Loaf graduate school campus. He also recently gave $3.5 million to Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership to form the Louis Bacon Environmental Leadership Program. Fordham, Georgetown Prep, St. Mary’s in North Carolina, and a small number of other educational institutions have also received donations, but they tend to be single gifts, and are generally under $10,000.
ARTS & CULTURE: In 2008, Moore made a million dollar gift to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, but this appears to be the only major donation in this arena. He has given smaller donations to places like the Parrish Art Museum in New York, the American Museum of Natural History, the Kennedy Center, and some smaller venues in the New York area, but the donations are infrequent, and tend to be for $15,000 or less.
HEALTH: Bacon has contributed to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, but the largest donation in this area has been $15,000.
NYC COMMUNITY: Bacon has given to a number of community-based organizations in the New York City area, including the Robin Hood Foundation received $276,000 over multiple grants from 2005 to 2017. Other grantees include Harlem Children’s Zone, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Boys Club, UNICEF and the Red Cross of New York.
LOOKING FORWARD: If Bacon is to broaden his philanthropic horizons, it will probably be related to the environment. The best bet would be conservation, environmental protection, and sustainable farming and development practices in developing countries, along with climate change and environmental education.
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