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RjwilmsiBot (talk | contribs) m →References: Adding Persondata using AWB (7822) |
m Added name of William T. Kirby to board members of the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, that the lawsuit was withdrawn, and that J. Roderick MacArthur inherited 60 million dollars from his father, John D. |
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Rod MacArthur attended [[Rollins College]] in [[Florida]] and worked as a stringer for the [[Associated Press]] in [[Mexico]]. During [[World War II]] he joined the [[AFS Intercultural Programs|American Field Service]], serving with the [[French Army]] in the ambulance corp., and he participated in the campaign that liberated [[France]].
He worked for his father in the insurance industry before they became estranged. In 1973, while working with a company that sold ceramic collectable plates, MacArthur noticed that the collectible ceramic market was chaotic. He started the [[Bradford Exchange]] which by the time of his death sold about 90% of all the collectable plates in the world. Often credited with becoming "a self-made millionaire", in actuality MacArthur had some financial backing from his father, although the idea, business plan and effort were indeed Rod MacArthur's own. In 1975, once the exchange was successful, his eccentric father claimed that Bradford Exchange was his business and John D. MacArthur seized the Bradford Exchange's customer lists and put the on hand inventory under lock and key. J. Roderick MacArthur then organized a "private posse" that broke into his father's corporate headquarters in [[Chicago]] and hustled the inventory into a waiting fleet of trucks. MacArthur inherited
Rod MacArthur married Christiane L'Entendart in Paris in 1947 and had a daughter and two sons, one of them the publisher and president of ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', [[John R. MacArthur|John R. "Rick" MacArthur]].
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==Philanthropic endeavors==
Father and son reconciled before John D. MacArthur died on January 6, 1978, (also of pancreatic cancer, the disease that would kill his son six years later) and he named Rod MacArthur to the board of his [[foundation (charity)|foundation]]. At that point, John D. MacArthur was worth in excess of $1 billion and was reportedly one of the three richest men in the United States. John D. MacArthur left ninety-two percent of his estate to begin the [[John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation]]. The composition of the Foundation's first Board of Director's, per John D. MacArthur's will, included J. Roderick MacArthur, [[Catherine T. MacArthur]] (his second wife),
"''The idea behind the foundation was as a tax dodge that he thought would allow his business executives to run his company forever. He clearly didn't understand the tax laws''."<ref>http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20040523/ai_n12547635/pg_1</ref>
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After Rod MacArthur blocked the sale of the company for $116 million less, the board found a buyer for Bankers Life that was willing to pay $384 million for the company.<ref>http://www.learningtogive.org/papers/index.asp?bpid=152&print=yes</ref> Although this removed the Bankers Life issue from the suit, there were still Rod MacArthur's allegations that board members and key foundation executives were profiting at the expense of the foundation.
Due to his terminal illness however, Rod MacArthur
Rod MacArthur made two further lasting and important contributions while on the board of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. First, he is the person who pushed the Board to offer the famous MacArthur fellowships, also called "Genius Grants".<ref>http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.959481/k.7895/Frequently_Asked_Questions.htm</ref> Second, in 1980 at the urging of his son John R. "Rick" MacArthur, then 23, Rod persuaded the Board to partner in creating and funding a Harper's Magazine Foundation to acquire and operate the magazine of the same name. This new entity acquired ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' (which was then losing nearly $2 million per year and was on the verge of ceasing publication) for $250,000. Rick MacArthur eventually took over the foundation that owned ''Harper's''.
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