LOS ANGELES (AP/WXYZ) — Eli Broad, the billionaire philanthropist, contemporary art collector and entrepreneur who co-founded homebuilding pioneer Kaufman and Broad Inc. and launched financial services giant SunAmerica Inc., died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 87.
Suzi Emmerling, a spokeswoman for the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, confirmed his death to The Associated Press. She said Broad died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a long illness.
Broad spent much of his childhood in Detroit and graduated from Michigan State University, where he eventually endowed the Eli Broad College of Business and the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management. He also donated the money to fund construction of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum.
It was Broad (pronounced brohd) who provided much of the money and willpower used to reshape Los Angeles’ once moribund downtown into a burgeoning area.
He is survived by his wife and two sons.
