Some of the wealthiest people in the United States currently serve on Duke's Board of Trustees. According to Forbes magazine's 2009 list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, board members David Rubenstein and Anne T. Bass are very well-off.
Bass is the wife of Robert Bass, who, along with his brothers, owns and operates Bass Enterprises Production, a private energy company that holds $25 billion worth of investments and $8 billion in private equity. The Basses are know for their charity, including a $30 donation to the Stanford (University) Graduate School of Business and a matching gift of up to $13 million for the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Library at Yale University.
Rubenstein, Trinity '70, is ranked 123 on the list. The co-founder of private leverage firm The Carlyle Group is estimated by Forbes to be worth $2.5 billion. In addition to his recent donation of $3 million to the Sanford School of Public Policy, Rubenstein is the chief benefactor and namesake of Rubenstein Hall—the building adjacent to the Sanford School—as well as giving a $10 gift to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, for which the new atrium at the center will be named in his honor.
(Image licensed via Creative Commons by nicmcphee)
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