Talk:Bruce Kovner/Archives/2017

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Updates & additions

I work for Rubenstein Communications and on behalf of Bruce Kovner I'd like to propose the follow updates and additions to the article. The article currently relies heavily on a 2005 New York Magazine profile and I believe more recent articles and profiles should be incorporated. To mitigate conflict of interest issues, I ask that an editor please review and edit accordingly. NinaSpezz (talk) 21:04, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

Info Box:

  • "Caxton Alternative Management LP" is now known as "CAM Capital"[1]

Intro:

  • As explained above, Caxton Alternative Management LP is now “CAM Capital”[1]
  • The current validity of the following statement is questionable.
Described as secretive even by family and friends, he is perhaps one of the least known New York City billionaires outside of professional circles.

Kovner is now well-known in the New York classical music and arts community, as chairman of Juilliard and Vice-Chairman of Lincoln Center, and in the financial industry, as well as in philanthropy and education reform. See the recent interviews in Philanthropy Roundtable[2] and the Juilliard Journal.[3]

  • I propose rewording and expanding the following sentence:
He is a leading philanthropist and former chairman of American Enterprise Institute.

To say:

Kovner serves as Chairman of the Board of The Juilliard School and Vice Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He also serves on the Boards of the Metropolitan Opera, the American Enterprise Institute, and Synta Pharmaceuticals.

Early life & education:

  • Is it necessary to detail political and religious beliefs of ancestors and distant relatives? I believe it would be more concise to rework and merge the first two first paragraphs to say:
Kovner was born in the U.S. to Isidore Kovner, an engineer who briefly played semi-professional football, and his wife, Sophie. Kovner spent his early years in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn with his parents and three siblings before the family relocated to suburban Los Angeles in 1953.[4][2] Early on, he was… (current 2nd paragraph)
  • The following sentence isn’t exactly supported by its reference:
Avoiding the Vietnam draft by student deferment (when it was still available)…

The citation states, “"The leading choice, at a time when there were still student deferments from the Vietnam draft, was the academy," and does not explicitly say Kovner avoided the Vietnam draft.

  • The following sentence is also questionably supported by its reference:
Kovner did not finish his Ph.D., having suffered a severe case of writer's block and overreached in his choice of subject matter.

I believe it would be more accurate to say:

Kovner did not finish his Ph.D., but continued his studies at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government until 1970.

Career:

  • As mentioned above, the current validity of the following statement is questionable.
Kovner is not well known outside of professional circles. He has very rarely given interviews and is notoriously private.
  • The following is not related to Kovner’s career and perhaps belongs in the “Personal life” section of the article:
His Fifth Avenue mansion in New York City, the Willard D. Straight House, features a lead-lined room to protect against a chemical, biological, or dirty bomb attack.
  • The career section does not mention Kovner’s current position at CAM Capital. I propose adding the following:
Kovner established CAM Capital in January 2012 to manage his investment, trading, and business activities.

Philanthropy:

  • I propose rewording and expanding the 1st paragraph to say:
Kovner established The Kovner Foundation in 1996 to support organizations that promote excellence in the arts and education, initiatives that defend private enterprise and protect individual rights, and scholarly studies and research that strengthen American democratic principles.[2][5]
A long-time supporter of The Juilliard School, Kovner has been chairman of the School's board since 2001.[6] In 2013 Bruce and his wife, Suzie Kovner, endowed the Kovner Fellowship Program at Juilliard with a gift of $60 million - the largest one-time gift to the school.[7] In 2012 Kovner donated $20 million to Juilliard to endow the school's graduate program in historical performance.[8][3] Kovner also donated a collection of music manuscripts to Juilliard in 2006.[7] Kovner is vice chairman of Lincoln Center for the performing arts as well as a major funder of the redevelopment of Lincoln Center. He is also managing director of the Metropolitan Opera's board of directors. Kovner founded and was chairman of the School Choice Scholarships Foundation, which awarded scholarships to financially disadvantaged youth in New York City.[2]

Personal life:

  • In order to convert the current list into prose, I suggest the following:
Kovner has three children and has been married twice.[9] In 1973, at age 28, he married artist Sarah Peter, in a Jewish ceremony in Connecticut. They divorced in 1998.[10] In 2007, he married Suzie Fairchild, the daughter of Robert Fairchild, and great-granddaughter of Louis Fairchild who founded the company with his brother, Edmund Fairchild, that became Fairchild Fashion Media, now a division of Condé Nast Publications.[11][4]

External links:

  • I’m unsure if the current list of external links is appropriate for that section. Here are several relevant links for consideration under "External links":

BruceKovner.com

The Kovner Foundation

CAM Capital

References

  1. ^ a b "CAM Capital". Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  2. ^ a b c d Brooks, Arthur (Fall 2015). "Interview with Bruce Kovner". Philanthropy Roundtable. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  3. ^ a b Polisi, Joseph W. (December 2015). "A Dialog With Bruce Kovner". Juilliard Journal. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  4. ^ a b Bloomberg L.P. (2014) Bio for Bruce Kovner. Retrieved March 7, 2014 from Bloomberg Finance L.P.
  5. ^ "Kovner Foundation: Grants for Music". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved 2016-01-21. Founded in 1996, the Kovner Foundation is run by billionaire Bruce Kovner and his wife Suzie. The couple is deeply passionate about music and has given out big money to select New York music institutions for years.
  6. ^ Juilliard (About) – Leaders
  7. ^ a b Kozinn, Allan (2013-10-09). "$60 Million Gift to Establish Fellowships at Juilliard". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  8. ^ Oestreich, James (16 January 2012). "Juilliard School Announces $20 Million Gift for Early Music". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  9. ^ Forbes: the World's Billionaires: Bruce Kovner, March 2013
  10. ^ Weiss, Philip (24 July 2005). "George Soros's Right-Wing Twin". New York Magazine. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  11. ^ Women's Wear Daily: "Obituary: Robert Fairchild, 66" By Whitney Beckett February 18, 2009
Thank you for your thoughtful proposals. Just scanning them quickly, they seem to me quite reasonable and not blatantly promotional or "peacocky". I think implementing them would not be breaching WP:COI. I'm rather busy sampling what I can during my sojourn to NYC, so I'm not volunteering, and this page has only 35 watchers, so there's only a small chance that someone else will do it. As they say: be bold. Just one thing: I would not like to see any of the 2 now existing external links removed – they seem quite informative to me. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 05:01, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
Thank you. Really appreciate your input. NinaSpezz (talk) 20:35, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Updates

I work for Rubenstein and on behalf of Bruce Kovner I'd like to update to this article. To mitigate conflict of interest issues, I ask that an editor please review and either give feedback and/or edit accordingly.

@Michael Bednarek: Because you were helpful in giving feedback on previously proposed edits, was hoping you could weigh in here if you are able. NinaSpezz (talk) 14:09, 13 April 2017 (UTC)

Intro:

  • Remove "Synta Pharmaceuticals" as Synta merged with Madrigal and is now called Madrigal Pharmaceuticals. [1] Kovner is not on the board of the newly combined company. [2]

Legacy and awards:

  • Add after the existing sentence:
Kovner is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[1] and received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from The Juilliard School.[2][3] In 2016 he awarded both the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership by The Philanthropy Roundtable[4][5] and The Alexander Hamilton Award by The Manhattan Institute.[6]

References

  1. ^ "NEWLY ELECTED MEMBERS, JULY 2012" (PDF). amacad.org. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  2. ^ "Honorary Degrees Conferred". juilliard.edu. The Juilliard School. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  3. ^ "Viola Davis, Joyce DiDonato, Frank Owen Gehry, Philip Glass, Lar Lubovitch, Marcus Roberts, and Philanthropists Bruce and Suzanne F. Kovner to Receive Honorary Doctorates at Juilliard's 109th Commencement Ceremony". juilliard.edu. The Juilliard School. 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  4. ^ "Announcing the 2016 William E. Simon Prize recipients". philanthropyroundtable.org. Philanthropy Roundtable. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  5. ^ Jay Nordlinger (2016-10-24). "A Couple of Givers: Bruce & Suzie Kovner, Part I". nationalreview.com. National Review. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  6. ^ "Alexander Hamilton 2016 Award Dinner". manhattan-institute.org. Manhattan Institute. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
Thank you for presenting your intentions here. Again, I think they are entirely reasonable and will improve the article. While you're at it, you might change the wikilink in the "Legacy" section from Institutional investor to Institutional Investor.
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