Print
When Eli Broad flew into Los Angeles International Airport in 1963 with his wife, Edye, the 30-year-old self-made millionaire was not impressed. “The ground below us called to mind the old saying,” he would later write, “‘Los Angeles is 100 suburbs in search of a city.’”
When he died Friday, he was an 87-year-old billionaire who had a greater impact on his adopted home than perhaps anyone else in this city’s modern history.
Broad left an indelible imprint on the city he once scoffed at, aiding in its transformation into a global city. He never held elected office but was one of Los Angeles’ most influential figures for crucial decades of growth, setbacks and rebirths.