- Richard C. Blum made his name as a value investor by buying Ringling Bros. for about $8 million and selling it to Mattel for roughly $40 million, fueling a long private-equity career.
- He turned wealth into sustained anti-poverty work, founding the American Himalayan Foundation and backing research and education through UC Berkeley's Blum Center and Brookings.
- As a UC Regent, he pushed fiscal oversight and governance reforms but drew criticism over tuition, budgets, and the influence of private wealth on public institutions.
- His philanthropy was shaped by deep ties to the Himalayas and outspoken human-rights advocacy, including confronting Chinese officials over Tibet.
Read More
Richard Blum’s journey from investment banking to global philanthropy presents a model of how early lessons of risk-taking and innovation were later translated into social impact. Purchasing the Ringling Bros. circus at age ~32 (in 1968) and selling it four years later for a five-fold return underlined his instinct for turnaround value and deal narrative—elements foundational to his later private equity and strategic investments. That circus deal was not merely a financial win; it granted him credibility, freedom, and capital to expand into more ambitious ventures.
Blum’s philanthropic strategy, exemplified by the American Himalayan Foundation (1980) and the Blum Center (2006), reflects a pattern: combine direct service (schools, health, trafficking intervention) with academic and policy engagement. Through the Blum Center and Brookings, Blum helped shape both the pipeline of future global development leaders (students and researchers) and the frameworks through which poverty alleviation is discussed in policy circles. This dual approach strengthened both impact and legacy.
Institutional leadership—especially at the University of California—became a platform where Blum leveraged his investment mindset for governance reforms (such as reining in spending at the UC Office of the President), accountability, and structural changes. But it also exposed him to friction with stakeholders (students, faculty, workers), especially when policies had regressive impacts, such as tuition hikes or budget cuts. These tensions highlight a core tension in philanthropic capitalism: power to change, but risk of perceived (or real) inequities.
For the sophisticated investor-philanthropist, the threads of personal passion (e.g., trekking in the Himalayas, relationship with the Dalai Lama, confronting injustice in Tibet) weren’t peripheral—they were central. They provided both a moral compass and a differentiator: in moments where philanthropic signaling might be expected, Blum instead acted; in conversations where many would avoid confrontation, he spoke out. These attributes added credibility—but also opened him to scrutiny over consistency and conflicts.
Strategic implications: investors and philanthropists seeking legacy should consider integrating business success with sustained, localized philanthropic commitment; governance ambitions (e.g., academic boards, public institutions) offer leverage—but also risk. For policy makers, Blum’s model presents lessons in the value of cross-sectoral partnerships (business, academia, civil society) for addressing complex global challenges. Yet there remain open questions around accountability when private wealth influences public institutions, and how to ensure philanthropic efforts don’t exacerbate disparities.
Supporting Notes
- Blum, then a partner at Sutro & Co., acquired Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for ~$8 million around 1968, and sold it four years later to Mattel for around $40 million.
- He founded Blum Capital Partners in 1975, becoming a major figure in private equity, and served on many boards including CB Richard Ellis, URS Corporation, Northwest Airlines, and others.
- Blum founded the American Himalayan Foundation (~1980), which among its interventions diverted approximately 6,000 girls in West Nepal from risk of sex trafficking into school.
- He established the Blum Center for Developing Economies at UC Berkeley in 2006; it now offers a minor in Global Poverty & Practice and has expanded to all UC campuses.
- He served as a UC Regent from 2002 until his death in 2022; during that time he was involved in fiscal oversight reforms and advocated for efficiency at UC, but also faced criticism over tuition, budget cuts, and admissions influence.
- He maintained friendships and relationships with figures such as the Dalai Lama; confronted Chinese leadership over human rights; and blended his mountaineering and travel experiences into his philanthropic worldview.
- Blum died of cancer on February 27, 2022, at his home in San Francisco; he was 86.