Darla Moore

Darla Dee Moore (born August 1, 1954) is a partner of the private investment firm Rainwater, Inc, and is married to Richard Rainwater, who founded the firm.

She is a pioneering woman in the banking industry and a benefactor to many institutions in her home state of South Carolina.

Life and career

Moore was born in Lake City, South Carolina, to Eugene and Loraine Moore. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1975 with a BA in Political Science. After school, she worked for the Republican National Committee in Washington, DC.

In 1981, Moore received an MBA from George Washington University and joined other MBAs at the Chemical Bank’s training program. During the 1980s, Moore made a name for herself while providing debtor-in-possession financing for companies going through the bankruptcy process.

In 1991, Moore married Richard Rainwater. She was named president of Rainwater, Inc, in 1993. Fortune Magazine named Moore one of the 50 Most Powerful Women In Business in 1998^[1] and 1999. Moore is credited with increasing the Rainwater family fortune and also dismissing future Florida Governor Rick Scott from Columbia/HCA when a medicare related scandal broke.^[2] Scott and Mr. Rainwater were partners in the Texas Rangers baseball team with Texas Governor George W. Bush.

Darla Moore spends most her time in Lake City in a house built on a plantation that has been in the Moore family for six generations. The couple also owns homes in New York City, Folsom, California and Charleston, South Carolina.

Ms. Moore and Mr. Rainwater have essentially lived separately since 2001, she in South Carolina, he in Texas and California. In March 2011 a court declared him incapacitated as a result of his battle with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and his youngest child, Matthew, became his legal guardian. As his illness progressed Mr. Rainwater's primary caregiver was his brother Walter until around the clock nursing care became necessary.^[3]

In 2011, Gov. Nikki Haley removed Darla Moore from the University of South Carolina board. Moore was replaced with Tommy Cofield.^{[4] [5]}

In 2012, Moore and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became the first two female members of Augusta National Golf Club.^[6][7]

Philanthropy

Moore has given many gifts to institutions that benefit the public. Some of her gifts include:

• 1998 — $25 million to the business school at the University of South Carolina, which renamed it the Moore School of Business;^[8]
• 2002 — Founded the Palmetto Institute, an independent non-profit organization focused on increasing the wealth of every person in South Carolina;
• 2003 — $10 million to the School of Education at Clemson University; the university has renamed the school the Eugene T. Moore School of Education in honor of her father, a Clemson alumnus and former teacher, coach, and principal in Lake City;^[9]
• 2005 — an additional $45 million to the Moore School of Business;^[10]
• 2011 — $5 million to the McNair Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research Center at the University of South Carolina;^[11][12]
• 2012 - $1 Million to Claflin University Music Department ^[13]
• 2013 - Undisclosed amount - ArtFields Art Festival (anticipated to be an annual event celebrating artists in the Southeastern states) in her hometown of Lake City, South Carolina

References

External links

• Inc magazine profile
• Portrait of Moore from a presentation at a Wharton School executive series presentation. Includes further references.
• Biographical sketch from Clemson University's Eugene T. Moore School of Education.
• Darla Moore | The Moore School of Business | University of South Carolina