His donors span the globe

Hoping to allay conflict-of-interest concerns as his wife prepares to become secretary of State, President Clinton released a donor list Thursday that shows he has raised as much as $131 million from foreign governments -- including Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Norway -- for the William J. Clinton Foundation.

More than 200,000 patrons that have given nearly $500 million since the foundation’s inception in 1997 were identified by name only. The disclosure provides a window into a charity that had closely guarded the identities of its donors -- countries, companies and individuals with keen and sometimes less-than-altruistic interests in U.S. foreign policy.

Clinton’s foundation has focused on providing healthcare, particularly for people with AIDS in underdeveloped countries. It also works to promote economic growth in Africa and Latin America, combat global climate change, and solve such problems as childhood obesity in the United States.

Many of the top donors have been major campaign supporters of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton. They include Los Angeles entertainment mogul Haim Saban, a strong backer of Israel; producer Stephen Bing; and Chicago billionaire Fred Eychaner.

The foundation also took in millions from foreign nationals, domestic and foreign corporations, and government entities that by law could not give to the Clintons’ political campaigns. The Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office, Oman, Brunei, Qatar and Kuwait are among the high rollers that have given $1 million to $5 million.

When President-elect Barack Obama selected Hillary Clinton, the junior senator from New York, to be his secretary of State, he made clear that her husband would have to disclose the foundation donors. In a statement late Thursday, Obama said Bill Clinton’s disclosure “meets our goals of transparency and goes above and beyond in preventing conflicts.”

The list includes several businesses and individuals either from India or with strong ties to the country. Steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal gave between $1 million and $5 million; Suzlon Energy Ltd. contributed in that range; and the Confederation of Indian Industry donated $500,000 to $1 million.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy shrugged off any question about Hillary Clinton’s ability to fairly mediate the chronically tense relationship between his country and India, both nuclear powers.

“It does not cause concern. This has to do with charity and not with politics,” Nadeem Haider Kiani said.

The foundation’s two biggest donors, at more than $25 million each, were the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, a London philanthropy started by hedge fund operator Chris Hohn; and UNITAID, an international drug purchase organization formed by Brazil, France, Chile, Norway and Britain to combat AIDS, malaria and other diseases in developing countries.

AUSAID, the Australian government agency responsible for managing Australia’s overseas aid program, donated between $10 million and $25 million, as did Saudi Arabia and a Dominican Republic government agency formed to fight AIDS.

Individuals giving between $10 million and $25 million included Bing, Eychaner, Lions Gate Entertainment founder Frank Giustra, Gateway Computer founder Theodore Waitt of San Diego and Paychex founder Tom Golisano.

Giustra is a Canadian mining businessman who in 2005 accompanied President Clinton on a trip to Kazakhstan. Giustra’s company later signed deals for uranium projects in Kazakhstan, a country with an authoritarian government and a much-criticized record on human rights.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also gave between $10 million and $25 million. Contributing between $5 million and $10 million were Saban, Norway and the Dutch Lottery.

Other million-dollar-plus donors include Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad; foundations established by billionaire George Soros and the Walton family (founders of Wal-Mart); and Victor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian steel tycoon and son-in-law to former Ukrainian President Leonid D. Kuchma, who was denounced by the State Department for “scandals, corruption and human rights violations.”

Blackwater Worldwide, which has the contract to protect State Department officials in Iraq, is listed as giving $10,001 to $25,000.

The disclosure also lists some donations given by corporations and individuals that since have fallen far: American International Group Inc., the insurance company that was bailed out in the Wall Street crisis, gave in the $250,001-$500,000 range. San Diego trial attorney William Lerach, now in federal prison on kickback charges, gave between $100,001 and $250,000, as did the now-bankrupt Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc.

Most if not all of the high-dollar donors had been previously disclosed. In many instances, however, the amounts they gave had never been revealed.

Other former presidents have not made such detailed disclosures.

The list released Thursday served to jog memories that the Clintons and Obama might prefer to forget.

Denise Rich, for example, is listed as having given between $250,001 and $500,000. Her gift was disclosed in 2001, after President Clinton pardoned her ex-husband, Marc Rich, a wealthy commodities broker who had fled the country rather than face tax fraud charges.

Hillary Clinton had to deflect salvos during the Democratic presidential primary over her husband’s foundation. After she won the Texas and Ohio primaries, Robert Gibbs, who will be Obama’s press secretary, called on her to release all Clinton Foundation and Presidential Library documents, including donors.

“What is lurking in those documents?” Gibbs, then Obama’s communications director, asked.

One of the questions she had to field concerned the Chinese company Alibaba Inc., which has been accused of collaborating with the Communist government’s censorship of the Internet and of helping in the crackdown on Tibetan activists. The disclosure Thursday listed the firm as having given between $100,001 and $250,000.

Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Common Cause, a nonpartisan government watchdog, lauded the Clinton Foundation for disclosing its donors. “We think it’s an important step,” Boyle said.

The foundation said Thursday that 12,000 people gave $10 or less, and that 57,000 contributors gave more than once to the foundation and to a separate charity established by Presidents George H.W. Bush and Clinton to help Hurricane Katrina victims.

Other major donors include gambling and pharmaceutical firms, manufacturers, and entertainment figures such as David Geffen and Steven Spielberg.

Bernard L. Schwartz, the former chief executive of Loral Space & Communications Corp. who celebrated his 71st birthday with the Clintons in the White House in 1997, gave between $1 million and $5 million. So did S. Daniel Abraham, founder of the Slim-Fast diet food business. Abraham is on the board of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading pro-Israel lobbying group in the U.S.

Omaha businessman Vinod Gupta, whose generous treatment of Bill Clinton as a business consultant formed part of the basis of a shareholder lawsuit, contributed between $250,000 and $500,000, as did the firm he founded, InfoGroup Inc.

Earlier this year, Gupta was forced out as chairman of InfoGroup as part of the settlement of the suit, which alleged abusive personal spending.

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dan.morain@latimes.com

azajac@tribune.com

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Washington bureau reporter Paul Richter contributed to this article.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Foundation donors

Here is a sampling of the eclectic group of donors to the William J. Clinton Foundation:

$10 MILLION TO $25 MILLION

Stephen L. Bing, a Hollywood producer who was a Hillary Rodham Clinton fundraiser during the presidential primaries.

Fred Eychaner, a Chicago media mogul.

Theodore W. Waitt, co-founder of the Gateway computer company.

Tom Golisano, founder of the Paychex payroll processing company.

Frank Giustra, a Canadian merchant banker who finances mining ventures. A separate “Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative” is listed as a $1-million to $5-million donor.

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$5 MILLION TO $10 MILLION

Michael Schumacher, a German Formula race car driver who is the seven-time Formula One series champion.

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$1 MILLION TO $5 MILLION

Bernard L. Schwartz, former chief executive of Loral Space & Communications.

The Robertson Foundation, run by former hedge fund manager Julian H. Robertson Jr., who invested heavily in international companies and is a staunch supporter of efforts to stop global warming.

Walter H. Shorenstein, a real estate magnate who has given millions of dollars to Democrats.

Paul David Reynolds, chief executive of investment firm Canaccord Capital Inc. and considered a leading expert on European markets.

Arnold H. Simon, chief executive of Aris Industries Inc., manufacturer of Members Only sportswear.

Bren and Melvin Simon of Carmel, Ind., part owners of the Indiana Pacers and owners of one of the nation’s largest mall companies.

Suzlon Energy Ltd. of Amsterdam, a leading supplier of wind turbines. Its chairman is Tulsi R. Tanti, one of India’s wealthiest executives.

Citi Foundation, a charity of Citigroup Inc., a financial services company recently given a multibillion-dollar federal bailout.

The Wal-Mart Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. Hillary Rodham Clinton served on retail giant Wal-Mart’s board of directors.

The Streisand Foundation, the charity of Barbra Streisand -- one of several stars and Democratic donors who spent the night in the Clinton White House, prompting Republicans in Congress to investigate.

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Source: Associated Press