• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Fidelity Chair Giving $15 Million to U.S. Military Academy, West Point

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jul. 27--Fidelity National Financial Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Foley plans to donate $15 million to the U.S. Military Academy, the largest financial contribution in West Point's 200-year history.

The donation from Foley, a 1967 graduate of West Point, will pay for the construction of an indoor athletic training facility at the academy.

"I really feel West Point helped take some raw assets and talent I had and honed them," he said Tuesday. "Really, West Point made me what I am today."

Bob Lenz, Foley's classmate and West Point's director of class and annual giving, said he first proposed the donation to Foley when the Jacksonville CEO visited West Point last month. Foley agreed to the donation two weeks ago after further discussions with Lenz at Foley's vacation house in Montana, Lenz said.

The $15 million will cover the cost of a new indoor practice field that will take a year to build and used for several sports, including football.

"Bill and Carol Foley have stepped forward to do something only a few could do," West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. William Lennox Jr. said in a news release. "Their love and respect for the academy are demonstrated by this remarkably generous gift. Generations of cadets will benefit from this tremendous facility."

Foley and Fidelity National relocated from Santa Barbara, Calif., to Jacksonville in 2003 after acquiring Jacksonville-based Alltel Corp.'s information services division. Fidelity National, a Fortune 500 company, is the nation's largest title and real estate-related services company.

Lenz said the commitment by Foley allows the academy to begin construction of the practice facility with a line of credit that Foley will then pay off over the next four years.

Foley's donation surpasses West Point's previous record contribution, made earlier this year by another Florida businessman, Lee Anderson, for construction of a rugby training facility, Lenz said. He declined to reveal the amount of Anderson's contribution.

Last year, Foley received the biggest financial package of any Jacksonville executive. His salary and bonus increased 23 percent from the previous year to almost $5.6 million.

Also, Foley was granted options to buy one million shares of Fidelity stock at a price of $36.60 each by 2012. According to Fidelity's proxy, if the company's stock rises by 10 percent a year, those options will be worth $56.4 million to him.

After graduating from West Point, Foley negotiated contracts for the Air Force in Seattle until 1971. He also earned a master's in business administration at Seattle University.

In 1974, Foley received his law degree from the University of Washington, then practiced law in Phoenix until 1984. That's when he led a group of investors in buying out a title insurance company owned by a savings and loan association he represented.

Last month, several news organizations reported that Foley was working with an investment firm on a $1.2 billion buyout bid for Callaway Golf Co., the maker of Big Bertha drivers and other golf equipment.

Foley said earlier this month that he and a private investment firm are waiting to hear from Callaway on the bid. But he wouldn't give any other details about the deal.

Foley and Boston investment firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP combined with Texas Pacific Group in March to acquire a 25 percent interest in Fidelity's information services subsidiary for $500 million.

In 1994, Foley was part of a group that gained control of CKE Restaurants Inc., which operates the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. fast-food chains. Foley acted as CEO of that company from October 1994 through March 2000 while still remaining CEO of Fidelity.

He stepped down as chief executive of CKE to devote full attention to Fidelity as the company took on several large mergers. But Foley remains chairman of California-based CKE.

-----

To see more of The Florida Times-Union -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jacksonville.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

FNF, AT, CKR,

Source: The Florida Times-Union

More News in this Category