$65M Weiland Bequest To LGBT Orgs Largest In History

The Pride Foundation of Seattle today announced a $65M bequest from the estate of openly gay Microsoft mogul Ric Weiland, who committed suicide in July 2006 after a long battle with depression. The bequest in the largest gift ever to LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations.

Audrey Haberman, executive director of the Pride Foundation, said, "Ric was one of Pride Foundation's closest supporters, not just as a donor, but as a board member and volunteer. All of us feel such a tremendous loss with him gone. Ric's bequest will do what he always wanted-inspire others to give to the causes they care about to the full extent that they can."

The beneficiaries of the Weiland Designated Fund include:

. amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
. Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
. Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
. In The Life
. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
. Lambda Legal
. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
. Project Inform
. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

Weiland also bequested $60M to his alma mater, Stanford University, and gave significant amounts to the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, the United Way, and the Seattle Children's Hospital.

Weiland was one of the five original Microsoft employees, hired by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. Weiland developed BASIC and COBOL for Microsoft platforms, launching the company into its global dominance of personal computing.