T. Denny Sanford wanted to die broke. He nearly pulled it off.
The South Dakota banking magnate spent decades giving away his fortune, and by the end he had parted with more than $4 billion, $2 billion of which went to his namesake health system. The billionaire philanthropist died July 18 at age 90. As of March, his net worth was estimated at $2.4 billion.
“I want to die broke,” Sanford told Forbes in 2007. “Very plainly, very succinctly, I look at life as an investor. What will give me or my community the best return?”
His donations turned a small regional hospital into one of the largest rural health-care networks in the country. That made him the “greatest philanthropist in South Dakota history,” according to South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden.
Sanford gave across the state, which resulted in the Sanford Underground Research Facility, a major state asset in science and education; the Build Dakota Scholarships and the Premier/Freedom Scholarship, which have gone to thousands of young people; the Sioux Falls Development Foundation; and the Children’s Home Society of South Dakota, where he was the biggest donor, according to the governor’s office.
