Stephen Leo Bing was an American businessman, philanthropist, and film producer. He was the founder of Shangri-La Entertainment, an organization with interests in property, construction, entertainment and music.
Early life
Bing was born in New York City in 1965. His parents are Helen, a nurse, and Peter Bing, a doctor in public health. Bing attended the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. At the age of 18, he inherited an estimated $600 million from his grandfather, Leo S. Bing, a real estate developer who had made his fortune in New York in the 1920s. The Los Angeles Business Journals January 2010 publication of "The Lists 2010" listed him in their "Wealthiest Angelenos" section of the magazine, which estimated his worth at $590 million, coming in at No. 46. After inheriting his fortune, Bing dropped out of Stanford University in his junior year to pursue a career in Hollywood.
Entertainment industry
Bing reportedly invested $80 million in The Polar Express, an animated film featuring the voice of Tom Hanks, which earned $285 million globally and was one of the year's top box office successes. He was also the financier of Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf, and the producer/financier of Shine A Light, a Rolling Stones concert film directed by Martin Scorsese. Bing also financed and produced the independently released Jerry Lee Lewis album Last Man Standing. In addition to his producing and film finance work, he also co-wrote both the screenplay and the story of Kangaroo Jack.
Politics
Beginning with a $500 contribution in 1993 to support Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., in his bid for re-election, Bing contributed more than $10.7 million at the federal level to the Democratic Party and its candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The biggest checks were written in 2002 when he gave a total of $8.2 million to the Democratic National Committee. But he also gave to specific candidates, including Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein. Bing was reported to have given at least $49.5 million during the 2006 election cycle in support of Proposition 87, a California initiative which sought to raise $4 billion in oil production taxes to help develop alternative fuels. Bing also supported several key races in other parts of the country as Democrats fought to win back control of Congress. They included Democratic challenger Bob Casey, Jr. in Pennsylvania, who unseated conservative GOP incumbent Sen. Rick Santorum, and future United States senatorTammy Duckworth in Illinois, then a Democratic Congressional hopeful and an Army National Guard major who lost her legs in Iraq, who went on to lose to State Sen. Peter Roskam in that race. Excluding Prop. 87 contributions, in California Bing donated $7.8 million worth from 2000 on, according to the California secretary of state. He spent $4.25 million in 2005 in a successful effort to defeat Prop. 77, a redistricting initiative sponsored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other beneficiaries of his political largesse included; the California Democratic Party ; Gov. Gray Davis ; and San Francisco MayorGavin Newsom, whose campaign received $750 in 2004. In October 2008, Bing pledged to match donations made to the NO on Proposition 8 campaign from October 17–19. On December 18, 2008, the William J. Clinton Foundation released a list of all contributors. It included Stephen L. Bing, who gave between US$10–25 million. On August 5, 2009, a 737 private aircraft owned by Stephen Bing and based out of hangar 25 at the Burbank airport in Southern California, was utilized in the return of American reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee who had spent 5 months of a 12-year sentence in North Korea. Former President Bill Clinton was instrumental in their return and accompanied the reporters back to the United States. Bing reportedly covered the cost of the entire flight, estimated to be around $200,000.
In 2001, Bing sued billionaire Kirk Kerkorian for invasion of privacy. Bing alleged that convicted criminal private investigator Anthony Pellicano took Bing's dental floss out of his trash to collect his DNA. At the time, Kerkorian was in a legal fight with his ex-wife Lisa Bonder, a former professional tennis player, over the amount of child support he would pay, with the billionaire reportedly suspecting Bing to be the biological father of Bonder's daughter, Kira. After Bing was proved by DNA test to be the father of Bonder's child, Bing and Kerkorian settled their dispute out of court.
Anthony Pellicano
The paternity of Bonder's daughter was revealed by Anthony Pellicano, a Los Angeles private investigator hired by Kerkorian's lawyer, who was also a "friend" to Bing. According to an FBI summary, Pellicano sometimes played Hollywood clients against each other, at one point asking financier Ron Burkle for a $100,000 to $250,000 shakedown in order not to be investigated by Michael Ovitz, another Pellicano client. In a twist to the case, The New York Times reported payments of $335,000 by Bing to Pellicano between June 2000 and August 2002. According to excerpts of recorded calls, Pellicano bragged to Kerkorian's lawyer in April and May 2002 that he was "working for" and "consulting for" Bing in matters related to Elizabeth Hurley and her son's disputed paternity, which was then in the news. A lawyer for Bing, Martin Singer, called Pellicano's statement regarding Hurley "an absolute lie." Following two trials in 2008 in which Bing did not testify, Pellicano was convicted of 78 counts of wiretapping, racketeering, wire fraud, and conspiracy. Pellicano was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered, with Terry N. Christensen, to forfeit $2 million.
Bing killed himself on June 22, 2020, at the age of 55, by jumping from his apartment on the 27th floor of a building in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Epstein conspiracy theory
A debunked conspiracy theory linked Bing’s death to the late Jeffrey Epstein.
