Here are a few highlights from The Smoking Gun's review of celebrity
philanthropy:
*Thanks to Wall Street's bull market, Kirk Douglas
has seen his foundation's blue-chip investments more than quadruple,
to a market value of nearly $25 million.
*Considering his supposed billionaire status, Donald
Trump's foundation seems rather cheap.
*But The Donald looks like Mr. Moneybags compared to boxing's Don
King and Mike Tyson, whose foundations
each haven't forked over a penny in the last two years.
*Mike Ovitz romps over his former
compatriots at CAA in the Sleazy Agent division
of TSG's philanthropy competition.
*NBC-TV star Jane Pauley and her husband,
"Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau, have no problem investing their
foundation's money in the competition's stock (CBS Corp.).
*Movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer's
foundation is certainly no Top Gun when it comes to philanthropy.
*Will Smith, new to philanthropy, donated $100,000
to his foundation, which gave away only $28,000 of that money in 1997.
*The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation
gave $200,000 to Choate Rosemary Hall, the exclusive Connecticut prep
school. Tommy also donated $750 to the Ethiopian Children's Foundation.
*Former "Tonight Show" host Johnny
Carson ($469,000) outgave current host Jay
Leno ($136,000) during 1997. And, no, Johnny hasn't donated to
any heart foundations, in case you're wondering. As for Leno, we also
checked his 1996 form and noticed that, apparently as penance for
a year of O.J. Simpson jokes and lame "Dancing Ito" skits, the comedian
forked over a whole $500 to the Nicole Brown Simpson Foundation.
*Comedian Bob Hope ($782,000 donated) prefers
the Catholic Church and the libraries/museums of former Republican
presidents (Ford, Nixon, Reagan).
* Kelsey Grammer ($115,000 donated) recently
donated $2500 for the "sponsorship of homeless animals." Whatever
that means. And he also gave the U.S. Olympic Committee $1500 for
a dymonwood desk protector. Whatever that is.
* Compared to his dad, Michael Douglas
has been more aggressive growing his $4 million foundation. The organization
bought and sold 537,000 shares of stock during the fiscal year ending
March 31, 1998. While this blizzard of trades earned Douglas's foundation
a hefty six-figure return, the actor made only $72,500 in donations.
On the other hand, the "Wall Street" star's stock broker earned $78,825.
*Barry Diller's Velvet Mafia cronies would
probably be pissed to learn that he gave $10,000 to the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Foundation.