Herb Sandler
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Herb Sandler, together with his wife Marion Sandler, co-founded Golden West Financial Corp. in Oakland, the parent company of World Savings Bank, one of the US's largest savings and loans with assets of almost $80 billion, deposits of $46 billion and 9,300 employees as of November 30, 2003. Under the Sandler's management, Golden West generated a 20 percent average annual compound growth over a 35-year period. This prompted Jason Jennings, author of "Less is More" to describe their company as "one of the most efficient and productive money machines on the planet".[1]
The Sandlers were known for their thriftiness as business managers. In an interview in 2002, Marion Sandler explained why the company has no receptionist at its executive offices:[2]
"I can't imagine paying someone to sit out there all day doing nothing but smiling and greeting people."
Golden West was sold in 2006 for $24 billion to Wachovia Bank. The merger was completed in October 2006. The Sandlers owned about 10% of the company at the time of the sale, making their share of the sale price worth about $2.4 billion. Of this, the Sandlers gave $1.3 billion to the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation.[3]
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[edit] Political and other causes supported by the Sandlers
According to New York Times reporter Matt Bai, the Sandlers, along with Democratic donors George Soros and Peter Lewis established America Votes "to coordinate various get-out-the-vote drives during the 2004 election". The Sandlers also sent their son-in-law, Steven Phillips, as their representative to the October 2005 meeting of the Democracy Alliance at the Chateau Elan near Atlanta, Georgia.[4]
[edit] ProPublica
In November 2007, Sandler announced that he had taken on the task of helming the board of a new organization, ProPublica, and that his family foundation would be giving $10 million a year of support to the group.[5]
Slate journalist Jack Shafer raised questions about ProPublica's ability to provide independent, non-partisan journalism, given the nature of Sandler's other political donations, which include "giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic Party campaigns."[6]
