Arnhold Foundation

Arnhold Foundation is the left-of-center philanthropic organization of the late Henry Arnhold, a banker from New York City. Arnhold had employed George Soros at the Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder bank for a decade, helping launch Soros’s career in the financial industry. ¹

The foundation mostly provides grants for the performing arts, including a number of New York City dance organizations. It also funds advocacy causes regarding the environment, education, international affairs, and healthcare. ²

Founder

Henry H. Arnhold founded the Arnhold Foundation in 1988. Arnhold was born in 1921 in Dresden; he fled German-occupied Norway in 1941 after being freed from a concentration camp. He snuck into Sweden, caught a boat to Cuba and entered the United States. After enlisting in the Army, he gained U.S. citizenship, and got his family into the United States. The Arnhold family restarted their bank, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, which the Nazis had seized, locating its headquarters in New York. ³

He attended the University of California Los Angeles before joining his family’s investment bank. He eventually became chairman of the bank in 1960. ⁴

Arnhold helped launch the financial career of George Soros, now a billionaire known for funding left-wing institutions and causes. Soros worked for the Arnhold bank and used it as his prime broker; in 1967, Soros and Arnhold co-founded First Eagle Fund NV. ³

Arnhold retired as chairman in 2015 when it oversaw $100 million in assets. He died in August 2018 at age 96. ³

Background

Inside Philanthropy said the Arnhold Foundation “lacks transparency, which restricts information about its grantmaking strategies and application process. ⁵

The organization funds dance organizations, environmentalist groups, educational institutions, international affairs and health care efforts. The commitment to dance is partly a result of Arnhold’s daughter-in-law Jody Gottfried Arnhold, a dance educator and an arts advocate. She is the honorary chairwoman of the Ballet Hispanico. ⁶

Grantees

In 2014, the Arnhold Foundation had $375 million in assets and doled out $20 million in grants. In 2015, the foundation distributed $47 million to Conservation International, an environmentalist group. ⁷

In 2015, the organization donated $2.5 million to dance organizations, including the Ballet Hispanico on the Dance/NYC, Dances By Isadora, Dance Theater of Harlem, Dancewave, Gallim Dance, Gibney Dance, Elisa Monte Dance, and Eye on Dance. ²

The foundation also supports the Frick Collection, which houses some of Arnhold’s collection of 18th-century porcelain. It further funds the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Guggenheim Museum, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Manhattan Theater Club, Manhattan Youth Ballet, Metropolitan Opera, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Arts and Design, New Amsterdam Singers, and Theater for the New City. ²

The foundation also donated $2 million to Pegasus Therapeutic Riding in 2016 to build a center named for Arnhold’s daughter, Michele “Shelly” Arnhold, a lifelong horse enthusiast. ⁸

Among education institutions, Arnhold has funded Bank Street College of Education, Columbia Business School, City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, Hunter College Foundation, Icahn School of Medicine, and Vassar College. It has also supported Prep for Prep to offer students of color access to a private school education and Fund for Public Schools, a public-private partnership with the New York City Department of Education. ²

On international matters, the Arnhold Foundation gives grants to the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and the International House in Morningside Heights.

In 2019, major grantees included the 92^nd St Y ($1.5 million), Conservation International ($4.7 million), the International Tennis Hall of Fame ($1.1 million), Jazz at Lincoln Center ($1.4 million), the New School ($1 million), UC Regents ($5.6 million) and WNET Thirteen ($1.5 million). ⁹

In 2022, the Arnhold Foundation pledged $9.125 million to The New School to, “benefit the university’s ongoing commitment to research on global issues.” ¹⁰ The Foundation also donated $5 million to the Teachers College of Columbia University in 2022 to finance the “Arnhold Dance Education Research Studios.” ¹¹