History
The Foundation was established in 1948 by Henry J. Kaiser. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) was originally set up in Oakland, the same city that was the headquarters for Kaiser Permanente. Later KFF moved to its current location in Menlo Park, California about 50 miles away.
When Mr. Kaiser died in 1967, his second wife Ale Chester got half the estate; the other half went to KFF. Ale sold all equities, moved far away, and remarried. Mr. Kaiser's children got very little directly but had the authority to run the Kaiser Industries businesses and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
In 1977, ten years after Kaiser's death, his conglomerate of disparate Kaiser Industries organizations split apart. The Kaiser Family Foundation was initially a major owner of these shares: at the time of dissolution, the Foundation owned 32 percent according to Fortune Magazine.
By 1985, the foundation no longer had an ownership stake in Kaiser's old companies, and therefore is no longer associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. Family members did not retain seats on the board of Kaiser Industries, but have remained active with the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Starting in 1990, CEO Drew Altman directed "a complete overhaul of the Foundation's mission and operating style." Altman changed a "sleepy grant-making organization" (some $30 million a year interest on the $400 million endowment) into a primary news source organization. KFF has progressed from funding polls through Harvard-Washington Post "partnerships," to giving reporters in health care awards, to funding reporters with "fellowships," and to finally hiring many of them full time to run the Kaiser Health News. The launch of Kaiser Health News (KHN) in 2009 meant that KFF could through the news outlet tell people - in side to side comparison - what the two political parties were saying on health topics.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has funded professororial chairs at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University, named the Henry J. Kaiser Professorships.
Read more about this topic: Kaiser Family Foundation
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