The Starr Foundation


The Starr Foundation was established in 1955 by Cornelius Vander Starr, an insurance entrepreneur who founded C.V. Starr & Co. and other companies later combined by his successor, Maurice R. Greenberg into what became the American International Group. Mr. Starr, a pioneer of globalization, set up his first insurance venture in Shanghai in 1919. Upon his death in 1968 his estate was passed on to the foundation. Today, it gives between US$100 and 200 million each year to charities and causes globally.
Although the foundation is one of the largest in the country in terms of assets, with some $3.3 billion in 2006, it maintains a low profile. It specializes in Asian arts and cultural philanthropy, but also makes grants in other areas, including education, medicine and healthcare, and public policy.
The foundation is no longer affiliated with AIG.