Broadcom Co-Founder Gives $10 Million to His Kids’ O.C. School

Henry T. Nicholas III, billionaire co-founder and former chief executive of computer chip giant Broadcom Corp., has given $10 million to the private Orange County school attended by his three children.

The gift, one of the largest of its kind in the country, comes as UC Irvine researchers, funded in part by Nicholas, begin to explore new uses of classroom technology at the school, St. Margaret’s Episcopal in San Juan Capistrano.

School officials, however, decided to use Nicholas’ gift for something more basic: to build an expansive athletic and science center.

Nicholas said that plan is fine with him. “The goal is not necessarily to see more technology in the school. The overriding goal is to see the quality of education improve,” Nicholas said. “They want to take the school to the next level, and they have the same goals as I do. Technology is just one way to get there.”

Marcus D. Hurlbut, headmaster at the 1,200-student St. Margaret’s, said officials a year ago asked Nicholas’ wife, Stacey, who is heavily involved in the school, to contribute to a $45-million campaign to finance construction and bolster its modest endowment fund. That was about the same time Nicholas left Broadcom to spend more time with his family.

Nicholas said his gift was largely a result of his renewed focus on his children and, in particular, their education. “I have spent a lot of time at St. Margaret’s, and it has opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities.”

Hurlbut said the money would cover most of the cost of building an athletic fieldhouse that would accommodate more than 1,000 people, with a wing of classrooms and science labs.

He said the contribution far exceeded the school’s initial hope of finding a donor of at least $6 million to anchor the campaign. The school’s largest previous gift, Hurlbut said, was $500,000.