Foundation of late billionaire owns half of Subway

The foundation created by the late Subway billionaire Peter Buck, of Danbury, reported it will receive a 50 percent stake in the restaurant chain as a bequest — creating a possible complication after Subway reportedly solicited buyers on any interest in a purchase of the corporate entity.

The Peter & Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation has its main office in New York City, with its board dominated by the children of the Buck couple. Peter Buck died in November 2021, having supported a number of causes across education, the environment and health care, including to help underwrite a big expansion of Danbury Hospital owned today by Nuvance Health.

Last July, the PCLB Foundation promoted Carrie Schindele to executive director, with Mystic resident Ben Benoit taking the title of chief financial officer. Schindele is a Wesleyan University graduate who worked in donor development with the Salvation Army before joining the PCLB Foundation in 2008.

The PCLB Foundation and Subway did not respond immediately Tuesday to queries on the nonprofit’s announcement, and how the respective nonprofit and for-profit entities plan to handle strategic corporate decisions.

It is the type of partnership that does not always go hand in hand, given the divergent interests between nonprofit philanthropy and corporate profits. Two children of Paul Newman sued the packaged food company Newman’s Own, claiming the Westport-based, for-profit business was falling short in contributions for philanthropic endeavors as Newman envisioned in the tongue-in-cheek slogan “shameless exploitation in pursuit of the common good.” In court filings, Newman’s Own says it has maintained its contractual responsibilities, with litigation ongoing.

The PCLB foundation stated Buck planned the bequest more than 10 years ago “to build PCLB into an institution designed to promote the best qualities of human nature,” as worded in a Monday press release.

Over 12 months through June 2021, the PCLB Foundation reported nearly $61 million in revenue to the Internal Revenue Service, including contributions of $17.5 million and another $33 million in gains on the sale of securities in its portfolio. The foundation gave away more than $27 million that year, leaving it with assets of $685 million at year end.

The PCLB Foundation’s biggest gift that fiscal year went to Achievement First of New Haven, which received $3.8 million with $4.5 million more earmarked for future gifts, supporting a number of Northeast charter schools including 10 in the Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford regions.

Others receiving PCLB Foundation gifts of $1 million or more in the 2021 fiscal year included Capital Preparatory Schools of Bridgeport; the nonprofit consulting firm Third Sector New England based in Boston; Northeast Charter Schools of Albany, N.Y.; and Excellence Community Schools and Medecins Sans Frontiers USA in New York City.