recent years, the Satter Foundation has held upwards of $70 million in assets and has given away some $6 million annually. A recent 990 filing listed close to 90 grantees. The active foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of former Goldman partner Muneer Satter and his wife Kristine Hertel. Satter spent years commuting from Chicago to New York racking up frequent flier miles, kind of like George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air. Satter reportedly donated millions of these miles to Room to Read, a nonprofit that delivers books to children in developing countries.
The Satters reside in Winnetka, Illinois, outside Chicago. Satter is only in his mid-50s, but has racked up a number of charitable interest areas, including education reform and charters, policy, global development, health and even the environment. Satter is a national council co-chair of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He’s also a top backer of a number of Republican candidates, but also Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat. Of the many Goldman Sachs pre-1999 IPO partners I’ve written about, Satter’s philanthropy is among the more robust.