Local Billionaire John Kluge Dies at 95

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Updated: 6:17 PM Sep 8, 2010 Local Billionaire John Kluge Dies at 95 John Kluge, an influential donor to many causes in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, has passed away, a family member tells CBS19. He was 95. Posted: 3:45 PM Sep 8, 2010 Reporter: Chris Stover Email Address: chris.stover@newsplex.com

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September 8, 2010

John Kluge, an influential donor to many causes in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, has passed away, a family member tells CBS19. He was 95.

Kluge died at his home Wednesday morning, apparently of natural causes, the family member said.

Kluge was born in Chemnitz, Germany, in 1914. He immigrated to the United States in 1922 and attended Wayne State and Columbia universities. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army.

Kluge made much of his money beginning in the 1960s and 1970s as an independent television owner. He created Metromedia, Inc., which oversaw the stations and became the largest independent television business in the United States. In the mid-1980s, Kluge sold his Metromedia stations for nearly $2 billion to Rupert Murdoch, who used the stations to create his FOX television network.

Kluge gave more than $63 million to University of Virginia initiatives over his lifetime. His interests and his gifts were broad, ranging from programs to aid disabled and chronically ill children, a professorship in palliative care, prostate cancer research, and scholarships for minority medical students to his collection of 20th-century Australian Aboriginal art.

John T. Casteen III, president emeritus, who worked for closely with the Kluges for many years regarding their gifts to the University, said he has long admired their thoughtful approach to philanthropy.

"What I have admired most about John Kluge and about Mrs. Kluge is their clear vision of what they want to accomplish to benefit humankind. After more than a quarter-century of work with philanthropists of almost every kind and of all sorts of means, I have come to see the Kluges as the most purposeful philanthropists I have known. They have not thrown their support to the winds. They have not given simply to attach their names to this or that. Rather, they have given to support their personal visions of the world as it ought to be, and they have wanted individual persons to be the chief beneficiaries of their generosity."

Current president, Teresa A. Sullivan, had this to say about her encounters with John Kluge:

"I had the privilege of enjoying the company of John Kluge and his wife, Tussi, on two recent occasions. He was one of the most charming and engaging individuals I have ever met. I was struck by his keen mind, his inquisitive nature, and his extraordinary commitment to higher education. John Kluge was a rare visionary whose interests spanned the arts, aid for minority students, and innovative health care -- and who used his many gifts to help make the world a better place."

At the time of his death, Kluge was listed as the 35th wealthiest person in the United States by Forbes magazine.

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