In the last century, New York’s cultural institutions have filled their board positions with the likes of John Rockefeller and Ronald Perelman. Now the Guggenheim, LincolnCenter and similar institutions are luring the newest money, hedge fund executives, according to The New York Times.
With annual bonuses for hedge fund executives expected to top $1 billion this year, they have become more lucrative than the best- paid Wall Street chief executive.
“A lot of these guys when they get their wealth and power, they want something to go along with that,” says David Patrick Columbia, who runs the Web site New York Social Diary. “Some collect art, some want to be philanthropists and once they get into the swim they find themselves being wined and dined by a variety of people. This experience gives them an affirmation of their social magnitude and that is an alluring thing for someone who makes a billion dollars.”
LincolnCenter has been the most aggressive institution so far. For the third year it plans to hold a gala dinner supporting those in the hedge fund industry, and one of its trustees and biggest donors is Bruce Kovner of Caxton Associates.
However, the boards of the major institutions may be reluctant to embrace the titans of this era, says Michael M. Thomas, a former Lehman Brothers partner who follows the art world. “I can’t imagine that Steve Cohen (of SAC Capital) would want to go to a board meeting at the Met or MoMA if he can spend over $100 million on a De Kooning,” says Thomas.
People have also not forgotten the partnership between the Whitney Museum and L. Dennis Kozlowski. Kozlowski, former chief executive of Tyco, was indicted on charges of skirting sales taxes on his art collection
“What gets you in is when other people want your money,” says Thomas. “It’s been like that for years…”