Texan billionaire Sid Bass bails out opera to tune of $25m

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Billionaire bails out opera to tune of $25m
From James Bone in New York



A TEXAS billionaire and his socialite wife are making a record donation to the Metropolitan Opera of New York, making good the shortfall left by its indicted benefactor Alberto Vilar, who has also left the Royal Opera House in the lurch.

Sid Bass and his wife, Mercedes, who is a board member of long standing, will give $25 million (£14.2 million) to New York’s premier opera house, the largest donation in its history. The money will effectively replace unfulfilled pledges of support by Mr Vilar, an opera-loving fund manager whose financial empire collapsed amid charges of fraud, which he denies.

“It happens in life. I feel very sorry for Mr Vilar,” Mrs Bass told The New York Times. “It’s unfortunate he had financial problems and he got terribly sick. He made pledges across the world and bad times hit him. I don’t think he did it intentionally.

“It’s really the duty of a board member to support the institution in a time of need,” she said. “For us it’s a good time to do it. I won’t tell you my age but I’m just at the right age to give something to the Met.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1972429,00.html