David Lawrence Geffen DLG (born February 21, 1943)was born in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York, to Abraham Geffen and Batya Volovskaya (1909–1988).[2] Geffen's mother owned a clothing store in Borough Park called Chic Corsets by Geffen.[3] Both of his parents were Jewish immigrants who met in British Mandatory Palestine and then moved to the United States.[4] Geffen graduated from Brooklyn's New Utrecht High School in 1960 with a "barely passing 66 average".
According to Forbes ("The 400 Richest Americans of 2004") and other sources, Geffen has pledged to give whatever money he makes from now on to charity, although he has not specified which charities or the manner of his giving. In 2002, he announced a $200 million unrestricted endowment for the School of Medicine at UCLA. The School thereafter was named David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Along with Kenneth Langone's gift to New York University School of Medicine, Geffen's donation is the largest donation ever made to a medical school in the United States.[37][38] On December 13, 2012, UCLA announced that Geffen had donated another $100 million in addition to his 2002 donation of $200 million, making him the largest individual benefactor for the UC system.[39] The latest donation funds the full cost of attendance for up to 30 students per year, beginning with the Class of 2017.
In 2015, Geffen pledged $100 million toward renovation of what was then called Avery Fisher Hall, part of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. His gift, which amounted to about 20% of the hall's renovation costs, gave him naming rights in perpetuity over the building, now known as David Geffen Hall.[40]
In December 2020, Geffen pledged to donate $46 million to the UCLA medical school, which is named after him.[41]
In June 2021, Geffen gave $150 million to the Yale School of Drama. This gift allowed the drama school to eliminate tuition for all students enrolled in master’s, doctoral, and certificate programs. The school was renamed the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.[42]
In September 2021, Columbia Business School announced that David Geffen had made a gift of $75 million to support the school's new facilities in the Manhattanville neighborhood, north of Columbia's main campus. In recognition of his donation, the East Building will be renamed David Geffen Hall when opened in 2022.
