Submitted by AspireAgain t3_y464wu in todayilearned
Who are these people and what is the significance of this place?
Lincoln Center is New York City's premier performance space, current home to the New York Philharmonic.
David Geffen is a billionaire who made his fortune in entertainment. Fisher was a millionaire who made his fortune in radio electronics, and an amateur violinist.
Fisher's original donation was made to help improve the sound quality at Lincoln Center, and was never quite successful. Geffen's donation funded a more recent renovation which so far seems to achieve the goal.
I suppose if the building is torn down, it doesn't have be renamed. A new building with a new name just takes its place.
Until Geffen’s heirs need some money.
Bobby Axelrod taught me this.
My life’s mission is now to construct the Fuck David Geffin Hall in the same place as this one. It will sound AWFUL.
Like a dog peeing on a pole.
Is this where they got the storyline on Billions?
I don't know how petty it is. There have been cases where someone donates millions of dollars to a hospital on the condition that the hospital be renamed for that person, followed by someone else donating more money and renaming the hospital after the new donor, and in a short period of time.
Fuck that awful person for giving $100 million!
How to say my parents didn't pay enough attention to me without saying it.
Frankly this “petty” one up-manship should be encouraged, billionaires might start donating more money
This sounds like one of the better episodes of "Billions".
It's been around for 60 years, and if it ends up like Carnegie Hall, it'll be around for another 65 at least
I think gifts of charity should not come with stipulations. That makes it at best a contract and at worst a bribe. The one thing it isn't is charity.
Besides, trading bribes for commemorations just isn't what I would consider a "wholly good" gesture. People choose to do that, they don't purchase it.
"Silly Idolater, charity is for good people."
Avery Fisher was always underwhelming as a concert hall. I've heard good things about the new one. Mainly, my brother, who travels to NYC regularly and always tries to catch a Philharmonic performance.
well now that shit rhymes more with a number than an antebellum marina
this sharpe ratio is more fucked than a sex worker having some such specific sex act performed on her
That's not a gift, it's a purchase.
So there needs to be a national law that a 4x donation within 10 years, or 2x donation within 20 years, nullifies any "in perpetuity" clauses?
This isn’t even his biggest donation. He’s probably given upwards of half a billion (at least) to academic institutions. So he puts his name on it, whatever.
>Fisher was a millionaire who made his fortune in radio electronics, and an amateur violinist. > >Fisher's original donation was made to help improve the sound quality at Lincoln Center, and was never quite successful.
To clarify the brand Fisher was then bought out a couple of times and was owned by Sanyo and now Panasonic (although it's basically a dead brand)
Yup. Narcissism is quite common.
Let's crowdfund $101 million and name the building after everyone who donates
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> he wants this to be a part of his legacy
Yes, that’s narcissistic.
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Wasn't much of a donation then, was it? He was buying ad space.
Billions addressed pay for a name
Was going to mention it if I didn’t see it.
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A couple of people that acquired money from you and me…. And a building.
If I had $100m to donate somewhere, I would definitely make them name it something funny and not my name for sure.
Could be worse. Could be Peaches Geldorf Hall. Still not a good name change though.
The “Lamacorn Pavilion” would be pretty funny.
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Are you trying to say I am a joke?
I am clearly a majestic creature that demands significant respect.
My fluffy white coat.
My rainbow main and tail.
My golden horn.
My slightly flares nostrils and buck teeth.
Your eyes will never feast on something as glorious as me.
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So I guess the $100 million donation was really $85 million to Lincoln Center and $15 million as a refund to the prior donor.
Bahhh for us Lama
It’s like Ralph engelstad and the university of North Dakota. Guy was a whack job nazi sympathizer who donated millions to the school and built them all new sports facilities. All under a $1 lease while he was alive and they couldn’t change the mascot name from the Sioux.
He put so many Sioux logos in the hickey arena it cost the school some stupid amount after he died to remove them all. He also gifted $100M to build the hockey arena with the original total to be $50m to build and then the school would get 50m. Well his construction company built it and ran costs up to basically 100M so the school got nothing extra.
It’s a nice arena though. And so is the Betty (named after his wife) and he built a nice complex in thief river falls for the local high school.
Still a trash human being.
Objection!
Princess Celestia shows up.
I will allow a close second
What she lacks in fluffiness, she makes up. For in wings.
Fuck David Geffen. He made a lot of money off other's hard work and talent.
Are you sure? Your avatar looks like Putin getting made up for a drag show.
Why did they wanna change the mascot?
Hey look, you've just invented taxation, which is how we should be funding public goods in the first place, instead of operating on rich folks' whims!
It’s a Theseus boat problem though. Let’s say one separates the building into two parts. Which one is still the Geffen Center? Even if it’s the bigger of the two, just separate it again. Pretty soon, the Geffen Center is just one brick.
The Fishers were surprised it wasn’t in their case.
This is a framework of rich-person-vanity-license plates.
Nothing is in perpetuity no matter how much one pays, guarantee a new generation can get stuff named after them.
I'm going to let that be a journey of personal discovery rather than explain.
Good luck.
This marks the first time I’ve ever bookmarked a phrase for future use. Bloody brilliant.
That’s how the rich put some of their money to work, all part of some master tax avoidance scheme.
A 25 foot organ that only plays duck noises.
Hally-McHallFace! ?
It’s not incredibly generous. His net worth is (rounding down) 7 billion USD. 100 million is thus 1/70th of his wealth, or the equivalent of someone with a net worth of 100,000 USD giving 1500 USD (rounding up). When you also consider that donations are tax-deductible, it becomes clear that this is basically a very rich person changing their amount of wealth by nothing at all. And then somehow being a dick about it.
Thanks. It seemed ridiculous to even engage.
"Princess Banana-Hammock Maximum Security Prison".
What’d you donate 1/70th of your wealth to today?
Yes, tale as old as time. Give away money to get rich! You can even write of a portion of it!
When you give your hundred million I hope you keep that in mind.
Like every other billionaire?
I'll allow it but only with your current profile pic displayed in full colour, at least 10 by 10 feet
Neither of these have a good ring to them. If I could choose the name of something, I'd make it memorable either through a weird joke or repetition. "Superb hall", "I paid for this hall", "I am rich. And I make so much money, I esrned the 100 million dollars for this in just one month - hall", "hall hall", "Superb hall"
Nothing, because donating 1/70th of my wealth doesn’t leave me with billions of dollars left over.
He waged a very long and expensive war against the state of California claiming ownership of a public beach. He is a special case of entitled ass.
David Geffen is the music industry’s Harvey Weinstein.
"The Derek Zoolander Center for Children Who Can't Read Good"
But its a velodrome
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What a colossal waste of money - half a billion dollars spent to improve the sound in a building that features music that appeals to one half of one percent of the richest New Yorkers.
Imagine what that money could have done for the poor of NYC.
Perpetual naming is a bad idea. This *might* come back to bite them one day.
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/7ak1jz/david_geffen_next_pedophile_named_or_harmless/
No one, ever, has donated $100MM to save $20MM in taxes.
I don't know anything about this case in particular, but here's the probable answer.
Legally speaking, he's made the donation "out of the goodness of his heart" expecting nothing in return and they'vr has chosen of their own free will to name the building after him. They aren't technically "obligated" to do so because there's no legally binding agreement. If they changed the name tomorrow, he'd have no recourse to sue or expect his money back. Obviously he gave the money with the understanding that the university agreed to name the building after him, but since they aren't "forced" to do so it still counts as a donation.
Source: I work for a prominent university that handles these sorts of things all the time.
'The Place that is All Better Now'
Was this a plotline in “Billions”? I dimly remember something of the sort.
Yeah I dunno. Poor and shitty taste yes but I reserve that term for those that actually helped their war movement. Dude was like 12 when the Nazis were defeated.
What's that? They sell the naming rights to some other asshole?
Well, not so much a donation as a $100 Million loan to get a building named for him until someone comes up with a $200m 'donation'.
Fuck David Geffin and all the rest of the 1% garbage.
Same old boring, mindless, cliche, huh?
They just opened the newly renovated hall like a week or so ago. I'm going to the concert tonight and I hope to God they've actually fixed the god awful acoustics.
fwiw, Joni Mitchell wrote a song for him... free man in Paris.
I think he turned to the dark side in the 90's
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pre 1980's he wasn't all bad.
but wow, today what a jerk
This was my first thought.
Every stadium is now “Corporation Name+Field/Stadium/Arena”: No more names, just sponsors. And it’s still not enough money for the teams, since prices are unreasonable for normal people
Someone doesn’t know what a cliche is.
If that's how it works why pay the previous family $15M, just so they don't make a fuss?
When did I ever say that?
It seems like you are reaching, hard, to play the Redditor contrarian here.
"Imagine if they spent that money on the poor" is a cliche
Nah idc enough
I’m assuming some kinda racism? Idk shit about the school or this dude
When you said giving away $100MM was a “master tax evasion scheme”.
It shows an unfamilairity of how tax writeoffs work.
Spending $500MM On a facility for the ultra rich instead of programs to support the general public is as far from a cliche as possible. It’s good old disgusting greed and ego.
"However, his casino had an unusual private suite, a “war room” stocked with Nazi posters and other memorabilia, as well as a collection of cars used by Hitler, Mussolini, Göring, and Himmler. On at least two occasions, he used the suite to celebrate Hitler’s birthday, complete with German food and a cake decorated with a swastika. "
Yup I'm with ya. He sold all of that and apologized to the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. He also made these donations through his foundation. It doesn't excuse his behavior but your leaving out relevant parts of his story.
$8.2 million to the College of Southern Nevada Foundation in Las Vegas to improve school's health sciences program (2008)[20]
An initial $5 million to the Boys and Girls Club to build a new facility, this includes a long-term donation plan that has money allotted for scholarship endowment (2008)[21]
$10 million to Bishop Gorman High School to fund a new campus (2003)[21]
North DakotaEdit
$250,000 to Farm Rescue to help farm and ranch families struck by unexpected crises in North Dakota (2018)[22]
$3 million to Grand Forks' Community Violence Intervention Center benefitting its Safer Tomorrow Road Maps program (2018)
$100 million to the University of North Dakota to build Ralph Engelstad Arena (1998)[23]
$20 million endowment to the University of North Dakota (2007)[17]
Items donatedEdit
Donated General George S. Patton Papers (1918-1944, 1997-1998)[24] and portraits of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices to University of North Dakota valued at nearly $127.5 million[25]
UtahEdit
$6 million to build the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre in Cedar City, Utah (2016)[26]
As of 2019, the Engelstad Foundation is run by trustees Betty Engelstad, Kris Engelstad McGarry and Jeffrey M. Cooper.[27
Baaaaahhhhhh
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Let us know what you think!
I said charities and deals like this are (EDIT: how) the rich put money to work for themselves while avoiding some amount of taxation (paraphrased).
A "tax avoidance scheme" somehow balloons into all these assumptions on your part probably because you're acting in bad faith.
How the fuck anyone can know the breadth of another person's knowledge and extrapolate as far as you have from 2 sentences is beyond me. Ego much?
Yes. Classical music is enjoyed with those of means.
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How? It’s simple. Anyone who think giving money away is a “tax avoidance scheme” doesn’t understand how taxes work.
Why carry on with all this nonsense? You can google this yourself if you're so smart.
https://apnews.com/article/business-philanthropy-b8acb10f529ac2dbaff7631021d823c9
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/business/donor-advised-funds-tech-tax.html
https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/guidance/charitable-tax-strategies/reduce-taxable-income.html
Anyone who thinks the rich give away money for free is naive at best, and a shill at worst.
I think it's more that you act the contrarian to feel smart.
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Trashy as fuck but ok David.
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Doesn't mean it's not a cliche. There's always some person who says "why don't they spend that money on the poor"? Quite predictable, in fact I was expecting someone to say it in this thread and you did.
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Celebrating Hitler birthday is more of a problem than collecting historical artifacts.
Kanye Goebbels Rally Hall @ Trump Center
I think a building a legally required to self-immolate at that point.
As per my wife, yes.
It’s difficult, you know? I get your point, and I personally would have preferred that $100 million be devoted to Autism research. But, if we never put money, effort and talent into art and creative spaces, what kind of a society will we live in? And there are certainly billions of dollars donated every year by others to help those affected by poverty. There are worse things he could have done with the money, certainly.
I learned about this from CBS This Morning a couple of Sundays ago. It’s a huge ego project for David Geffen. It is a difficult question, on that I agree.
DrMcJedi t1_iscd6px wrote
That’s both incredibly generous…and super petty.