NET WORTH: Unknown
SOURCE OF WEALTH: KB Homes
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Health, Arts & Culture
OVERVIEW: Bruce Karatz and family move their philanthropy through the Bruce Karatz Family Foundation, which appears to have paused grantmaking activities in the late 2010s. Giving focused on Southern California. Karatz is married to Lilly Tartikoff, a cancer activist who co-founded the Revlon Run/Walk events in New York and Los Angeles.
BACKGROUND: Bruce Karatz was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Chicago in 1945. After graduating from Boston University and the University of Southern California, he worked as associate general counsel for Kaufman & Broad. He rose through the ranks, becoming CEO. The Southern California-based home building company eventually transformed into a Fortune 500 company known as KB Home
Tartikoff Karatz attended the American School of Ballet on a dance scholarship and spent nine years as part of the NYC Ballet Company. In 1982, she married Brandon Tartikoff, then Chairman of Entertainment for NBC. Brandon Tartikoff suffered from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which first occurred when he was just 23.
By 1990, he was undergoing chemotherapy for the third time, finally succumbing to the disease in 1997. Experiencing her husband’s illness prompted Tartikoff to create a number of initiatives and events to raise funds for cancer research. According to some sources, Tartikoff has helped raise more than $80 million for the cause. In 2009, Lilly Tartikoff married Chairman CEO of KB Homes, Bruce Karatz, who has an extensive philanthropic record of his own.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Karatz and Kaufman & Broad helped spearhead the effort to rebuild Camp Hollywoodland for inner-city youth. Support has gone to Millbrook School in New York, where Karatz’s son Theodore graduated and sits on the board. Crossroads School is a grantee.
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: Cancer activist Lilly Tartikoff co-founded the Revlon Run/Walk events in New York and Los Angeles. She has raised over $80 million for cancer research through her efforts. Via the Bruce Karatz Family Foundation, the family has supported Phoenix House and Homeboy Industries. Beyond Southern California, Karatz and KB Home supported rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
In 1990, Lilly Tartikoff teamed up with Revlon Chairman and CEO Ronald Perelman to create the Revlon/UCLA Breast Cancer Program; they created the Fire and Ice Ball to raise money for the program. By 1993, Tartikoff and Perelman were working with the Entertainment Industry Foundation to create the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women, an annual women’s cancer fundraiser that is still held in LA and New York every year. In 1997, she expanded her partnership with EIF, creating the National Women’s Cancer Research Alliance, bringing together a group of leading scientists from across the nation. Following that model, she worked with EIF and Katie Couric to found the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance in 2000, after Couric’s husband passed away from the disease.
ARTS & CULTURE: Lilly Tartikoff Karatz is on the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. It is worth mentioning that Bruce Karatz heads an organization called the Bruce Karatz Family Foundation with his children, which supports groups like MOCA and La Theatre Works. Grantees include Desert Exhibition of Art, MOCA, and LA Theatre Works.
OTHER: Support has gone to Jewish outfits, including Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Six-figure sums have gone to California Community Foundation recently.
LOOKING FORWARD: While Tartikoff Karatz has been a major force in cancer fundraising, there are plenty of other areas that may spark her interest. Her husband has been involved with rebuilding efforts in the wake of natural disasters, and in 2007, founded the Keep Your Home Foundation to support people in California facing foreclosure. He also sits on the board of Homeboy Industries, which offers support programs for former gang members and inmates, and the Phoenix House, which offers substance abuse treatment programs.
CONTACT:
Bruce Karatz Family Foundation
355 S. Grand Ave., Suite 1710
Los Angels, CA 90071
(213) 683-8790
