Philanthropist and entrepreneur Eli Broad, who contributed millions of dollars to Michigan State University, died Friday at age 87, representatives announced.
Since 1999, Broad, who founded two Fortune 500 companies in different industries, and his wife, Edythe, had committed more than $5 billion with their foundations to support K-12 public education, scientific and medical research, and the visual and performing arts.
In 2014, Broad and his wife gave MSU a $25 million challenge grant to broaden the scope of the Eli Broad College of Business.
The gift brought the Detroit Public Schools alumni s total giving to MSU to nearly $100 million. As a businessman Eli saw around corners, as a philanthropist he saw the problems in the world and tried to fix them, as a citizen he saw the possibility in our shared community, and as a husband, father and friend he saw the potential in each of us,” said Gerun Riley, president of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.