The arts patron who fell from favour

Alberto Vilar gave generously to opera – then the cheques dried up and prison loomed

Since it is better to give than to receive, perhaps the best kind of philanthropy is one where one promises to give a sum of money without anyone actually receiving anything. The late financier Alberto Vilar was a connoisseur of this type of charity – a “modern Medici”, who “fell out of favour when he reneged on his pledges and eventually went to prison for defrauding clients”, says Richard Sandomir in the New York Times. Vilar, who died a fortnight ago, built a fortune once estimated at nearly $1bn through biotechnology and technology stocks. He then used those riches “to embark on a run of largesse in the 1990s and early 2000s, donating — or pledging to donate — more than $200 million to arts organisations”.

Vilar didn’t hide his light under a bushel, constantly demanding “more attention” for his giving. The Royal Opera House changed the name of its Floral Hall to the Vilar Floral Hall for an $18m donation, while $25m to the Metropolitan Opera’s endowment in 1998 ensured that his name “was added to its third-level Grand Tier”. While this attention-seeking was a turnoff for some organisations, others were willing to put up with it. Vilar was himself unrepentant arguing that “when you have your name on a building, it says: ‘Here’s a world-class person who is giving money, and he chose us’”.

Vilar’s ego was bad enough, but worse was to come, says The Times. When the dotcom crash caused the value of his funds to fall by 80%, he could no longer honour his commitments and the money simply stopped arriving. Those who could reach him were told that “the cheque was in the post or there was a short-term cash-flow issue”. At the same time, he also continued to pledge more money, “including $5m for research after meeting the actress Julie Andrews, who had effectively lost her singing voice after surgery”. It seems he simply could not say no: “Asking Alberto for money was like offering an alcoholic a drink,” an anonymous friend tells The Times.

Erased from history

Matters came to a head when Vilar was arrested in 2005 for diverting client funds, including $5m from the mother of actress Phoebe Cates, with some money allegedly used to fund some charitable donations and home repairs. Vilar received ten years in prison and his name “was quickly removed from the many organisations to which he had once been so generous”. Still despite his broken promises, he retained some supporters, with conductor Valery Gergiev “providing $500,000 in cash” to fund his legal defence, says The Times.

The opera houses may have regretted their association with Vilar, but the feeling was mutual: he told a friend that “he’d have been better off giving the money to a dogs’ home”, says Norman Lebrecht on classicalmusic site Slipped Disc. Maybe he had a point: the legitimate money that he donated in the boom years was hugely important, which the “graceless ingrates” who took it refuse to admit. “The truth is he was a game changer in the financing of opera and classical music. The way he was treated, it is unlikely there will ever be another.”

“Vilar embarked on a run of largess, donating $200m to arts organisations”