Billionaire's $50 Million Donation Will Save Him $47 Million in Taxes

NEW YORK — Tech billionaire Preston Hale III announced a landmark $50 million donation to construct the Preston Hale III Center for Transformative Synergies, a gleaming 12-story Manhattan building that will help absolutely no one. "This is about giving back," Hale said at a press conference held inside a different building named after himself. "When I see poverty, disease, climate change — I think, 'What if there were a really impressive lobby with my name on it?'" The Center will feature a rooftop meditation garden accessible only to donors and a 40-foot bronze statue of Hale in what architects call a "contemplative power pose." Tax analysts at the Brookfield Institute noted the donation will save Hale roughly $47 million in taxes, making the effective cost of his generosity about the same as a Honda Accord.