Oscar, say it isn't so

Say it isn’t so: The Ilitch family is holding an Oscar Nite fundraiser to get other people to give them money in order to fund their Ilitch Charities for Children, a non-profit most people assumed was the Ilitch Family’s charitable foundation, their mechanism for tax deducted giving.

01.23.07
The Detroit News published today:

You don't have to shlump on your sofa and passively watch the 79th annual Academy Awards show.

Join the action on Feb. 25 by attending the Academy Awards-sanctioned charity gala Oscar Night America, or by vying against Detroit News Film Critic Tom Long's best award prognostications.

Oscar Night America will be held beginning at 6 p.m. at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. Tickets are $50 and $150 with proceeds benefiting Ilitch Charities for Children. Partygoers will not only watch the Oscars on the big screen but they'll also walk away with a poster and official Academy Award program. (Full Story)Is the Oscar nite plan for Marian Ilitch to win Best Actress in a Philanthropic role? Or perhaps young Christopher Ilitch will take home the Oscar for Best Director of the people’s charitable funds? Did the Rockefellers or the Fords or the Johnsons actually “raise” money for their foundations? Or do Mike and Marian Ilitch see this like Warren Buffett giving his charitable funds to Bill & Melinda Gates for them to manage? Are Mike and Marian Ilitch our new substitute for United Way?

Or is this a creative way for them to raise capital in an era where they’re already over leveraged?


Regardless of what they're thinking; we're thinking it's absurd that a family worth $1.5 billion is raising money from other people so they can turn around and give it away in their own name.