Scene Last Night: Jimmy Lee, Parsons, Erdoes, Lufkin, Delaney
Citigroup Inc. (C) Chairman Richard Parsons waved a wand with flashing colored lights and a star at me.
“What’s your wish?” he asked Thursday night at the Make- A-Wish annual gala. Wands had been placed at every table.
A few seconds passed.
“Too late,” Parsons teased.
Fortunately the night wasn’t about making wishes, but rather raising money to fulfill the dreams of children with life-threatening illnesses.
The event raised $2.1 million -- $700,000 over the target - - with the help of honorees Jimmy Lee, vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), and Michael Delaney, managing partner of Court Square Capital Partners. The total was pushed up by two $100,000 pledges and more than 20 $1,000 pledges in a wishes auction.
The 600 guests included Mary Erdoes, chief executive officer of asset management at JPMorgan Chase, Julie Richardson, managing director, Providence Equity LLC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) partners Sean Gallagher and Rebecca Shaghalian, and Dan Lufkin.
Lee’s remarks included thank-yous to financiers who made contributions but did not attend the event, among them Leon Black, Stephen Schwarzman and Stanley Druckenmiller.
Lee also made a wish that Theodore Forstmann, chairman and CEO of IMG Worldwide Inc., would beat cancer. “I’ve been his banker for 25 years,” Lee said.
Children’s wishes included digging for dinosaurs, meeting Warren Buffett and seeing how people robots are made. Last year the organization spent $4.4 million in direct costs, fulfilling 531 wishes and assisting on 262 others.
Joe’s Violin
When Joe Ginem was 16 and going through treatment for bone cancer, he asked for a professional-quality violin. He is now 20 and completely recovered, and he plays his violin every day.
He performed a concerto by Jean-Baptiste Accolay at the event. Afterward, a guest told Ginem that he’d just made a $25,000 donation in his honor.
“That is a great feeling,” said Ginem, who is studying business at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida. “Someday, I want to have enough money to be able to raise my hand and give $100,000.”
(Amanda Gordon is a writer and photographer for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net or on Twitter at @amandagordon.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
Make-A-Wish Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Richard Parsons, chairman of Citigroup, and Laura Parsons, chairman of the American Folk Art Museum.
Richard Parsons, chairman of Citigroup, and Laura Parsons, chairman of the American Folk Art Museum. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Make-A-Wish Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset management, JPMorgan Chase; Jimmy Lee, vice chairman, JPMorgan Chase; Julie Richardson, managing director, Providence Equity LLC and a Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York board member; and Alison Weiskopf, managing director, JPMorgan Chase.
Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset management, JPMorgan Chase; Jimmy Lee, vice chairman, JPMorgan Chase; Julie Richardson, managing director, Providence Equity LLC and a Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York board member; and Alison Weiskopf, managing director, JPMorgan Chase. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Make-A-Wish Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Michael Delaney, honoree and board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York, with Susan Delaney and Matt Delaney.
Michael Delaney, honoree and board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York, with Susan Delaney and Matt Delaney. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Make-A-Wish Gala
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Brad Cooper, partner, Capital Z Partners, and chairman of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York.
Brad Cooper, partner, Capital Z Partners, and chairman of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Make-A-Wish Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
John Larkin, head of special situations at Susquehanna Financial Group; Rebecca Shaghalian, partner, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Mark Toomey, managing director, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
John Larkin, head of special situations at Susquehanna Financial Group; Rebecca Shaghalian, partner, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Mark Toomey, managing director, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Make-A-Wish Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Sean Gallagher, co-chief investment officer of Goldman Sach Group Inc.'s U.S. value equity business and a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York, and Ellen Chen, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. equity derivatives salesperson.
Sean Gallagher, co-chief investment officer of Goldman Sach Group Inc.'s U.S. value equity business and a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York, and Ellen Chen, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. equity derivatives salesperson. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Make-A-Wish Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Joe Ginem, holding the violin he received from Make-A-Wish.
Joe Ginem, holding the violin he received from Make-A-Wish. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
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