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Longjumping_Owl5740 t1_isesnc6 wrote

Reply to comment by ElGuano in TIL that before Lincoln Center could reward David Geffen's $100 Million donation by renaming "Avery Fisher Hall" to "David Geffen Hall", they had to pay the heirs of Fisher - the original donor - $15 million. Geffen's donation has a provision that requires his name to be on the hall "in perpetuity". by AspireAgain

I don't know anything about this case in particular, but here's the probable answer.

Legally speaking, he's made the donation "out of the goodness of his heart" expecting nothing in return and they'vr has chosen of their own free will to name the building after him. They aren't technically "obligated" to do so because there's no legally binding agreement. If they changed the name tomorrow, he'd have no recourse to sue or expect his money back. Obviously he gave the money with the understanding that the university agreed to name the building after him, but since they aren't "forced" to do so it still counts as a donation.

Source: I work for a prominent university that handles these sorts of things all the time.

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hisroyalnastiness t1_isfinl4 wrote

If that's how it works why pay the previous family $15M, just so they don't make a fuss?

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