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Sanford Ned Diller (June 4, 1928 – February 2, 2018) was an American billionaire and the founder of Prometheus Real Estate Group.

Biography

The only son of Claire (née Diller) and Jack Diller, Jewish immigrants from Vienna (originally from Eastern Galicia) who had settled in San Francisco, California. His parents owned a kosher style restaurant named "Diller's" in the Fillmore District in San Francisco during the Great Depression.

Diller graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and then graduated with a J.D. from the Hastings College of the Law.

After law school, Diller began acquiring and developing real estate in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he founded the Prometheus Real Estate Group. Prometheus grew to become the San Francisco Bay Area's largest private real-estate holding company of apartments with over 11,000 owned units and is valued at $2.3 billion. Prometheus was owned by Diller and his wife through a revocable trust.

Sanford passed away from natural causes on February 2, 2018 in his house in Woodside, California. He is buried in Mount of Olives, East Jerusalem

Philanthropy

The Helen Diller Family Foundation is the largest contributor to the University of California, including major gifts to Berkeley and UCSF. Since 2003, the foundation has donated $1.5 billion to the 10-campus university system.

In 2024, Berkeley unveiled the Helen Diller Anchor House, a 772-bed, residential building for Berkeley transfer students, that was designed, built and funded by the Helen Diller Family Foundation.

In 2017, the foundation donated $500 million to UCSF, the largest single donation in UCSF’s history. In 2018, the foundation announced an additional $500 million commitment to begin planning a new UCSF hospital, the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In 2002, the Helen Diller Family Foundation donated $5 million to establish an endowment for a visiting Israeli scholar at Berkeley's Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Following two additional donations, one in 2019 and another in 2021, Berkeley honored Helen Diller by naming its Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies after her. In 2003, the Dillers donated $35 million to fund The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Care Center at the UCSF complex on the biomedical campus of Mission Bay.

Since 1999, the Dillers have donated over $1 billion via their family foundation named after his wife Helen. Other major gifts have funded the renovation of the Julius Kahn playground at the Presidio; Mission Dolores Park Playground, now named Helen Diller Playground; and the preschool in the San Francisco Jewish Community Center, named Helen Diller Preschool. They also have supported San Francisco's de Young Museum, Museum of Modern Art and Legion of Honor Museum.

The Foundation operates two Jewish teen programs: an international Jewish teen leadership program, the Diller Teen Fellows and the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards. Since 2007, the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards have recognized Californian Jewish teens who are outstanding role models in their communities.

The Helen Diller Institute at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco is a collaborative work space where distinguished visiting scholars and project teams of CJM staff work together to create dynamic Jewish content and programs for the museum’s diverse audiences. Its centerpiece is a Beit Midrash ("study hall" in Hebrew) for ongoing trainings that enhance exhibitions and programs in development.

Political donations

Through the Diller Foundation donations have also been given to Pro-Israel organizations including the Canary Mission and Regavim and far-right groups including Project Veritas and the David Horowitz Freedom Center.

Personal life

In 1951, Diller married Helen Samuels (born 1928), the daughter of Jewish immigrants (however, her father, William, was born in Denver, Colorado and met Helen's mother, Dora Lipsky in Lodz, Poland) and a fellow Berkeley graduate whom he had met in college. Helen was born at Mount Zion Hospital (now part of UCSF) and lived on Pierce Street in San Francisco. Her father was a clothing salesman and shop owner.

The Dillers have three children: Brad Diller, Ron Diller, and Jackie Safier, president of Prometheus. Diller lived in Woodside, California.

Sanford Diller is also the second cousin of the well known media executive, Barry Diller.

References

1. Ho, Catherine (6 February 2018). "Real estate developer, philanthropist Sanford Diller dies at 89". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
2. ^ Bloomberg: "Prometheus Billionaire Emerges With San Francisco Rentals" By Caleb Melby September 18, 2014
3. ^ JWeekly: "Charitable Giving: Philanthropist Helen Diller fulfilling lifelong dream to inspire and help others" by renee ghert-zand November 8, 2012
4. ^ San Francisco gate: "Helen, Sanford Diller fund UCSF cancer center" by Julian Guthrie June 1, 2009
5. ^ Dinkelspiel, Frances. Behind the largest gift in Berkeley’s history, an elusive leader and a controversial family. The San Francisco Standard. Aug. 20, 2024. https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/20/berkeley-dorm-donors/?utm_campaign=SF+Standard+Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=SF+Standard&utm_content=hero
6. Natividad, Ivan. UC Berkeley breaks ground on Helen Diller Anchor House. Berkeley News.https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/02/01/uc-berkeley-breaks-ground-on-helen-diller-anchor-house/
7. ^ Goodman, Jane Feledy and Claire Conway. Largest-Ever Gift to UCSF Honors Philanthropist Helen Diller: $500M for Faculty, Students and Chancellor’s Priorities Creates Legacy Totaling $650M. UCSF. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2017/01/405476/largest-ever-gift-ucsf-honors-philanthropist-helen-diller
8. "UCSF Receives $500M Commitment from Helen Diller Foundation to Begin Planning New Hospital". UCSF Receives $500M Commitment from Helen Diller Foundation to Begin Planning New Hospital | UC San Francisco. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
9. San Francisco Chronicle: "Diller family foundation keeps out of spotlight" by George Raine October 28, 2003
10. "$10 Million Gift from Helen Diller Foundation Marks New Name for Berkeley Institute at Ten Years". Berkeley News. 9 February 2021.
11. The Tablet Magazine: "Academic Question - San Francisco’s Federation puts new restrictions on its grants, worrying Bay Area Jewish-studies profs" by Marissa Brostoff May 6, 2010
12. USC: "Helen and Sanford Diller Family Endowment for Jewish Studies" retrieved September 18, 2014
13. "Mission Dolores - Helen Diller Playground | San Francisco Recreation and Parks, CA". sfrecpark.org. Retrieved 2020-02-03.
14. "About Us". www.thecjm.org/. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
15. "Behind the largest gift in Berkeley's history, an elusive leader and a controversial family". 20 August 2024.

• 1927 births
• 2018 deaths
• American businesspeople in real estate
• University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni
• American billionaires
• University of California, Berkeley
• People from Woodside, California
• Businesspeople from California
• American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
• 20th-century American businesspeople
• 20th-century American philanthropists
• 21st-century American Jews