B.C. couple sold firm for fortune. With last $92M donation, they've given it all away
CTV
A pair of British Columbia philanthropists are donating the last $92 million from a “windfall” sale of their medical imaging company to the charitable foundation they founded.
British Columbia millionaire Eric Peterson is preparing to do something he's never been comfortable with - ask other very rich people for money.
Peterson and his wife, Christina Munck, have spent the last two decades funding their Tula Foundation through proceeds from the sale of his medical imaging company.
The couple announced the donation of their last $92 million from the sale on Wednesday, and they are now making plans to keep the organization sustainable after that money is gone.
Peterson said in an interview that he envisions having to divide up the foundation's eclectic list of projects to find funding partners for the individual pieces, which range from the Hakai Institute, that researches Canadian coastal ecology, to a branch working on health care in Guatemala.
“I am not very comfortable to go out there and ask for donations. `Give me money. I'm already filthy rich, give me more money.' That's not a very compelling argument, is it?” he said.
“But now that we're saying, 'Look, this is an organization we've given all of our resources to it, we would really appreciate if there are other donors who can help to make this sustainable.”'
Peterson and Munck began the Tula Foundation, named after one of their dogs, after he sold his company, Mitra, for an estimated $300 million in 2001.