Sanford Ned Diller (June 4, 1928 – February 2, 2018) was an American billionaire and the founder of Prometheus Real Estate Group.
September 18, 2014
Biography
The only son of Claire (née Diller) and Jack Diller,
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
immigrants from
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
(originally from
Eastern Galicia
Eastern Galicia ( uk, Східна Галичина, Skhidna Galychyna, pl, Galicja Wschodnia, german: Ostgalizien) is a geographical region in Western Ukraine (present day oblasts of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil), having also essential h ...
) who had settled in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. His parents owned a kosher style restaurant named "Diller's" in the
Fillmore District
The Fillmore District is a historical neighborhood in San Francisco located to the southwest of Nob Hill, west of Market Street and north of the Mission District.Oaks, Robert F. San Francisco's Fillmore District. lectronic resource n.p.: Charles ...
in San Francisco during the
Great Depression.
Diller graduated from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
[JWeekly: "Charitable Giving: Philanthropist Helen Diller fulfilling lifelong dream to inspire and help others" by renee ghert-zand]
November 8, 2012 and then graduated with a J.D. from the
Hastings College of the Law
The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California ...
.
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
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
,
Jerusalem, Israel.
Philanthropy
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.
[San Francisco Chronicle: "Diller family foundation keeps out of spotlight" by George Raine]
October 28, 2003 In 2003, the Dillers donated $35 million to fund The
Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Care Center at the
UCSF
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It con ...
complex on the biomedical campus of Mission Bay.
[San Francisco gate: "Helen, Sanford Diller fund UCSF cancer center" by Julian Guthrie]
June 1, 2009 In 2018, the foundation announced a $500 million commitment to begin planning a new UCSF hospital; gifts to the university total more than $1.15 billion.
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 Julius Kahn may refer to:
*Julius Kahn (inventor) (1874–1942), engineer of reinforced concrete
*Julius Kahn (congressman)
Julius Kahn (February 28, 1861 – December 18, 1924) was a United States Congressman who was succeeded by his wife ...
playground at the
Presidio
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th and 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Spanish Philippines in particular, were cen ...
; 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.
Personal life
In 1951, Diller married Helen Samuels (born 1928), the daughter of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
immigrants from Poland and a fellow
Berkeley graduate whom he had met in college.
Her father was a clothing salesman and shop owner.
They have three children: Brad Diller, Ron Diller, and Jackie Safier,
president of Prometheus.
Diller lived in
Woodside, California
Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. Woodside is among the wealthiest communities in the United States, home to many technology billionaires and investment manager ...
.
Sanford Diller is also the second cousin of the well known media executive,
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American businessman. He is Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting. Diller was inducted into the Television Hall o ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diller, Sanford
1927 births
2018 deaths
Jewish American philanthropists
American real estate businesspeople
University of California, Hastings College of the Law 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