`Homeless Billionaire' Charms L.A. With $500 Million Gift
- Berggruen's pledge to his own think tank brings out A-list
- He plans headquarters on 450 acres in hills near Getty Center
Nicolas Berggruen at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills on May 3, 2016.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/BloombergNicolas Berggruen, once tagged as the “homeless billionaire” for his lack of a permanent address, threw a party packed with politicians and business luminaries Tuesday night to promote the public policy think tank he wants to build in the mountains above Los Angeles -- and the $500 million he’s putting into it.
Guests, who included Alphabet Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt, Ariel Investments LLC President Mellody Hobson, Activision Blizzard Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick, Hayman Capital Management’s Kyle Bass and philanthropist Eli Broad, dined on shiitake rice cakes and lemon ricotta gnocci at the event, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Berggruen Institute’s founding.