Jeffrey Gundlach, an Amherst native and Los Angeles resident, played an essential role in the expansion, restoration and renovation of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
The billionaire investor, nicknamed “the Bond King,” provided an initial $42.5 million matching grant on the way to giving some $65 million in all, the largest philanthropic gift ever in Western New York, and helped steer the project to its successful conclusion. Gundlach spoke to The Buffalo News Monday night, after the ribbon cutting ceremony and formal reopening of the museum.
Q: With 350 people in attendance, a host of politicians, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, and artistic performances, and your own speech, what was the reopening ceremony like for you?
It was so well planned out, so there weren’t any surprises there. I’ve seen the politicians speak three or four times now, so I kind of know where they come from. (Gov.) Kathy Hochul gives a good upbeat speech, and she did a great service to the project by kicking in an extra $20 million. That was the missing 20, and that was a big deal.
Q: You mentioned in your remarks that after purchasing a coveted Piet Mondrian painting, you looked around at what to do next and decided you wanted to do something for the greater good by helping the Buffalo AKG.
I have had individual paintings I’ve paid a lot of money for, and decreasingly do you feel a need to scratch whatever itch that is. Beyond that, when you get older, you start to worry about what to do with this stuff rather than wanting more of it. You go into acquisition mode and then dispossession mode, and that’s true whether you’re like me or a regular person. You downsize.
This seemed like a way the roots of my success could benefit a lot more than me, massively more than me when you think about the multiplier effect. From a beneficial point of view to the community, or just fulfillment on a sort of…
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