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== Personal ==
== Personal ==
He is married with three children. Splits time, with his wife Myra, between [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]] and [[San Francisco, California]].
He is married, with three children. He and his wife Myra divide their time between [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], and [[San Francisco, California]].


== Philanthropy ==
== Philanthropy ==

Revision as of 04:38, 7 October 2011

George Kaiser
Born1943 (age 80–81)[1][2]
CitizenshipUnited States[1]
Alma materHarvard College (B.A.)
Harvard Business School (MBA)
OccupationChairman of BOK Financial Corp.
SpouseMarried
Children3[1]

George B. Kaiser (born 1943[1][2]) is an American businessman. He is the Chairman of BOK Financial Corporation. He is among the top 100 richest people in the world[1] and one of the top 50 American philanthropists.

Early life and career

Kaiser attended Tulsa public schools. He earned a B.A. from Harvard College in 1964 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1966.[3] He briefly considered joining the U.S. Foreign Service, but instead returned to Tulsa in 1966 to work for his father. Kaiser-Francis Oil Co. was created in the 1940s by Kaiser's uncle and parents, Jewish[4][5] refugees from Nazi Germany who settled in Oklahoma.[6] Kaiser took control of Kaiser-Francis Oil Company in 1969. In 1990, Kaiser bought the Bank of Oklahoma, N.A. from the FDIC, the government agency that guarantees the soundness of the nation's major savings institutions. Buying the Bank of Oklahoma landed Kaiser on the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans. As of 2007, Kaiser's ownership interests in BOKF were worth $2.3 billion. In 2008, with an estimated current net worth of around $12 billion, he was ranked by Forbes as the 20-richest person in America and the richest person in Oklahoma. In March 2009, in the face of the general world economic downturn, Forbes reported that Kaiser's net worth had dropped to $9 billion, ranking him in a tie for 43rd-richest person in the world.[7] It has since risen to $9.8 as the markets recover.[1]

Personal

He is married, with three children. He and his wife Myra divide their time between Tulsa, Oklahoma, and San Francisco, California.

Philanthropy

Kaiser is listed third on BusinessWeek's 2008 list of the top 50 American philanthropists, behind Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates.[8][9] Among his prominent causes is fighting childhood poverty through the George Kaiser Family Foundation; he is also a major benefactor to the Jewish community in Oklahoma, which numbers about 5,000 people.[6][10] He has been notably active in the promotion of early childhood education.[11][12][13] Kaiser's family foundation is also the largest contributor to the Tulsa Community Foundation, which Kaiser established in 1998 because of his perception that that Tulsa's historical dependence on unorganized private giving from its wealthy families was no longer effective. Beginning with gifts from seventeen local philanthropists, by 2006 this foundation had grown to become the largest community foundation in the United States, and now has approximately four billion dollars in assets.[14][15][16][17][18]

Kaiser's family foundation funded the National Energy Policy Institute, a non-profit energy policy organization located at the University of Tulsa whose president since its inception is former Alaska governor Tony Knowles,[19] and whose director since January 2010 is former U.S. Representative Brad Carson.[20] In January 2009, Kaiser drew attention after he told a committee of the Oklahoma House of Representatives that the state should eliminate or reduce tax incentives for the oil and gas industry, and instead use the money for health care or education programs or for tax cuts for other taxpayers.[21][22]

Kaiser is among those who have made The Giving Pledge, a commitment to give away half of his wealth for charitable purposes.[23][24][25][26]

Political activities

Kaiser was a key fundraiser for the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama. In 2008, he contributed more than $50,000 to the campaign.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "George Kaiser - Forbes". Forbes. March 9, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  2. ^ a b George Kaiser was born in 1943; Forbes listed his age as 67 in March 2011 and 68 in September 2011.
  3. ^ George B. Kaiser bio
  4. ^ Holocaust: Records from Ten Ghettos Ghetto: Lodz Name: Dina Laja Wertheim Gender: F (Female) Birth Date: 1886 Profession: Kaufman (Merchant) Address: 4 Flat 24 Muhl Gasse Residence: Lodz, Poland Deportation Type: AUSG Deportation Date: 25 Mar 1942 Deportation Transport: TR 33
  5. ^ The Houston Jewish Herald-Voice Index to Vitals and Family Events, 1908-2007 Name: Ruth Feldgreber [Ruth Wertheim] Maiden Name: Wertheim Event: Death Published Date: 17 Aug 1994 Volume / Number: 86 / 22 Page & Column: p34c1 Reported in: Houston Event Date: 14 Aug 1994 Event Place: Tulsa OK Parents: Late Hugo & Dina Wertheim Funeral Date: 17 Aug 1994 Age: 72 Other Families: MARKOWITZ / KAISE
  6. ^ a b Russel Gold, "Oil billionaire takes a gamble to fix natural-gas shortage," The Wall Street Journal, July 22, 2004.
  7. ^ "The World's Billionaires: #43 George Kaiser", Forbes, March 11, 2009.
  8. ^ "The 50 Top American Philanthropists," BusinessWeek, December 8, 2008.
  9. ^ "Warren Buffett Tops BusinessWeek's Annual Ranking of 'The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists," BusinessWeek press release, November 25, 2008.
  10. ^ "25 Billionaires and Millionaires That Became Philanthropists," Business Pundit, August 4, 2008.
  11. ^ David L. Kirp, "You're Doing Fine, Oklahoma! The universal pre-K movement takes off in unlikely places," The American Prospect, November 1, 2004.
  12. ^ David Leonhardt, "Bridging Gaps Early On in Oklahoma," New York Times, February 7, 2007.
  13. ^ "George Kaiser Speech on Childhood Education," New York Times, February 7, 2007.
  14. ^ Ginnie Graham, "Community foundation gains stature", Tulsa World, August 27, 2006.
  15. ^ Matt Cauthron, "Officials expect Tulsa Community Foundation to be largest in nation", The Journal Record, May 10, 2006.
  16. ^ P.J. Lassek, "City among beneficiaries enjoying Tulsa Community Foundation's millions", Tulsa World, January 3, 2011.
  17. ^ "Top Funders: 25 Largest Community Foundations by Asset Size", Foundation Center website (accessed January 26, 2011).
  18. ^ "Philanthropy 400 Data: Community Foundations", Chronicle of Philanthropy website (accessed January 26, 2011).
  19. ^ Rod Walton, "Green group to locate at TU," Tulsa World, March 11, 2009.
  20. ^ Rod Walton, "Ex-lawmaker to head TU energy institute: Brad Carson will direct NEPI, founded with a Kaiser gift", Tulsa World, January 26, 2010.
  21. ^ Barbara Hoberock, "Kaiser urges shift in state tax breaks," Tulsa World, January 23, 2009.
  22. ^ "Digger George: Kaiser wants plug on energy incentives," The Oklahoman, January 25, 2009.
  23. ^ Gavin Off, "Kaiser, Pickens pledge to donate half their wealth", Tulsa World, August 4, 2010.
  24. ^ Ashli Sims, "Kaiser, Pickens Take The Giving Pledge", KOTV, August 5, 2010.
  25. ^ George Kaiser, "Duty bound to help those left behind", Tulsa World, August 8, 2010.
  26. ^ "The Giving Pledge". Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  27. ^ Anburajan, Aswini (March 28, 2008). [backupurl.com/4j2kug "Fact check: Obama and oil"]. MSNBC. Archived from the original on September 1, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)

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