The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is a charitable foundation created and managed by members of the Rockefeller family. It was founded in New York in 1940 as the primary charitable organization for the five third-generation Rockefeller brothers: John D. Rockefeller III, Nelson, Laurence, Winthrop and David. It differs from the Rockefeller Foundation. The Rockefellers are an industrial, political and banking family who made one of the world’s largest fortunes in the oil business in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Foundation’s stated mission is “to foster social change which promotes a more just, sustainable and peaceful world. The current president of RBF is Stephen Heinz, who was appointed to the position in 2000. Valerie Rockefeller is chair of the RBF. She succeeds Richard Rockefeller, the fifth child of David Rockefeller, who served as chairman of the RBF until 2013.
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund was founded in 1940 by the five sons of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The five Rockefeller brothers were the first five trustees of the Foundation. In 1951, the Foundation grew substantially when it received a $58 million donation from John D. Rockefeller Jr.
As a generation of RBF founders moved on, new family members joined its board, and the Foundation’s donations began to flow further. the political left. In 1999, the Foundation merged with the Charles E. Culpepper Foundation.
In November 2006, David Rockefeller pledged $225 million to the foundation, which would create the David Rockefeller Global Development Fund after his death.
In September 2014, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund announced that it planned to get rid of fossil fuels in its assets. On divesting from fossil fuels, Rockefeller Brothers Fund President Steven Heinz said: “We see it as a moral obligation and an economic opportunity” (Sept. 30, 2014)
The Rockefeller Family Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund are independent, separate institutions.
From 1956 to 1960, the Foundation funded a study conceived by its then president, Nelson Rockefeller, to analyze the problems facing the United States. Henry Kissinger was hired to direct the project. Seven commissions were formed to look at such issues as military strategy, foreign policy, international economic strategy, government reorganization and the nuclear arms race.