Behind every billionaire there is a story!

Financier Pledges $1-Billion to Foundation; Main Goal Is to Promote Economic Security

Peter G. Peterson, the private-equity titan, has announced plans to give at least $1-billion over the next several years through his newly created foundation, which will focus on calling public attention to threats to America’s economic security.

Mr. Peterson, a co-founder and the senior chairman of the Blackstone Group, in New York, and a former Secretary of Commerce during the Nixon administration, said the money will come from the nearly $1.9-billion he made in June during Blackstone’s initial public offering.

Mr. Peterson, who is 81, said his foundation will focus primarily on problems he says the country is facing.

“I’m no sociologist, but I do know what we’re doing and what we’re not doing,” Mr. Peterson said when asked about what he thought was behind the nation’s problems. “We’re consuming much too much, we’re saving much too little, and we’re expecting much too much.”

read the rest published by Chronicle of Philantrophy here:

http://www.philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=3990