Olayan Charitable Trust is a New York-based nonprofit organization run by Hatham Olayan, the chairman of the investment and management organization the Olayan Gorup. Olayan Charitable Trust’s grant recipients are not disclosed in the nonprofit tax records database maintained by ProPublica, ¹ however it has been reported that the organization previously supported the Metropolitan Museum of New York, New York Presbyterian Hospital, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), and the professorship of the anti-Israel professor Rashid Khalidi at Columbia University. ^{2 3 4 5 6 7 8}

History and Activities

Olayan Charitable Trust was founded in New York City in 1993. The organization does not list its donors online and has no website. According to Candid, the organization’s giving is primarily directed toward education, a cancer hospital, and a university in Beirut. ⁹ The organization has also been credited with giving funding to groups that engage in international policy. ¹⁰

People

The two trustees of the Olayan Charitable trust are Hutham Olayan and John Knight. ¹¹

Hutham Olayan is the chairman of the Olayan Group, an investor and operator of businesses in the Middle East. Olayan is also the CEO of Olayan America, which handles the Olayan Group’s investments outside of the Middle East. Hatham Olayan is also on the board of Brookfield Asset Management, General Atlantic, Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing, the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She also sits on Standford University’s Global Advisory Council, and was a former director or trustee at Morgan Stanley, IBM, Thermo Electron, Georgetown University, and the Mastercard Foundation. Olayan is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York. ¹² Hatham joined the Olayan Group in 1984. The Olayan Group was established by Hatham’s father, Sulaiman, in 1947. ¹³

John Knight is general counsel at Olayan America. Previously he was COO of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, chief regional counsel of the Rohatyn group, managing director at JP Morgan Chase & Co, an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP, a Henry Luce Scholar in the Supreme Court of Malaysia, and a clerk for Judge Henry Politz of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. ¹⁴

Financials

In 2022, Olayan Charitable Trust reported $48,675 in revenue, $2,235,139 in expenses, and $2,403,864 in assets, according to tax filings. Nearly all the organization’s revenue that year ($48,589) was gained through interest on savings and temporary cash investments. Nearly all the organization’s expenses that year ($2,212,476) were on contributions, gifts, and grants. Tax filings in the nonprofit tax records database maintained by ProPublica ¹⁵ did not list the recipients of Olayan Charitable Trust’s gifts or grants. ¹⁶

In 2001, Olayan Charitable Trust gave a $20,000 gift to Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU), a media outlet that publishes essays about issues surrounding the Israel-Palestinian conflict with editorial positions critical of Israeli policies. Also in 2003, Olayan Charitable Trust gave $50,000 to Columbia University to support the professorship of controversial pro-Palestinian academic Rashid Khalidi. ¹⁷ Khalidi has been called “one of the most outspoken critics of Israel in academia. ¹⁸

Olayan Charitable Trust was also listed as a donor to the Met museum in New York from 2016 to 2017 with a gift of between $100,000 and $499,999. ¹⁹ Olayan Charitable Trust also gave between $10,000 to $24,999 in FY2005 to American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA). ²⁰ Between January 2008 and September 2009, Olayan gave a gift listed as being over $1,000 to New York Presbyterian Hospital. ²¹

1. “Olayan Charitable TR – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/137031747.
2. “Olayan Charitable Trust C/o Olayan America (delaware) LLC.” Candid. Accessed June 21, 2024 . https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile/?key=OLAY001.
3. Return of Private Organization (Form 990-PF). Olayan Charitable Trust. 2022.
4. “Hatham Olayan.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/wall-street-donors/hutham-olayan.
5. Gershman, Jacob. “Columbia Lists Said Donors.” Campus Watch. March 29, 2004. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/8834/columbia-lists-said-donors.
6. “The Fund for the Met.” Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.metmuseum.org/-/media/files/about-the-met/annual-reports/2016-2017/annual-report-2016-17-the-fund-for-the-met.pdf.
7. ANERA 2005 Annual Report. ANERA. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.anera.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ANERA-Annual-Report-2005.pdf.
8. New York Presbyterian 2010 Annual Report. New York Presbyterian. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.nyp.org/pdf/annual_report_2010.pdf.
9. “Olayan Charitable Trust C/o Olayan America (delaware) LLC.” Candid. Accessed June 21, 2024 . https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile/?key=OLAY001.
10. “Hatham Olayan.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/wall-street-donors/hutham-olayan.
11.  Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). Olayan Charitable Trust. 2022.
12. “Hutham Olayan.” The Milken Institute. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://milkeninstitute.org/events/a0c1u00000cf19buar/speakers/hutham-olayan.
13. “Hatham Olayan.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/wall-street-donors/hutham-olayan.
14. “John Knight: Experience.” LinkedIn/ Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-knight-8a334a17/details/experience/.
15. “Olayan Charitable TR – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/137031747.
16. Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). Olayan Charitable Trust. 2022.
17. Adam Daifallah. “Hauser Helped Fund Professor of Hate.” New York Sun (Reprinted by Campus Watch). July 23, 2003. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/8496/hauser-helped-fund-professor-of-hate.
18. Gershman, Jacob. “Columbia Lists Said Donors.” Campus Watch. March 29, 2004. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/8834/columbia-lists-said-donors.
19. “The Fund for the Met.” Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.metmuseum.org/-/media/files/about-the-met/annual-reports/2016-2017/annual-report-2016-17-the-fund-for-the-met.pdf
20. ANERA 2005 Annual Report. ANERA. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.anera.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ANERA-Annual-Report-2005.pdf.
21. New York Presbyterian 2010 Annual Report. New York Presbyterian. Accessed June 21, 2024. https://www.nyp.org/pdf/annual_report_2010.pdf.