Local billionaire and philanthropist Warren Hellman has died at age 77. The cause was complications from leukemia. He's well loved of course for creating and bankrolling the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, and fear not, it will continue on without him thanks to an endowment he created for that purpose. But Hellman should also be thanked for funding the San Francisco Free Clinic, spearheading City pension reform, creating the Bay Citizen, and building that underground parking garage in Golden Gate Park between the DeYoung and Academy of Sciences.

He also took Levi's private back in 1985 — a decision he later called "debatable" after the company peaked in the mid-90s — and he once owned a 15 percent stake in the NASDAQ, which he sold in 2007 for a considerable profit. As the Chron tells us:

Mr. Hellman was the son of an investment banker and great-grandson of Isaias Hellman, a Jewish immigrant from Bavaria who became one of California's most prominent bankers in the late 19th century.

And as the Bay Citizen writes:

Lanky and angular, an endurance runner and skier, Hellman had a penchant for politically incorrect humor and little tolerance for phonies. He was a ragged dresser, an apologetic capitalist and one of the most beloved figures in San Francisco history.

To the progressives of the Guardian-reading ilk, he represented the S.F. establishment of Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom, and Dianne Feinstein, having helped fund their campaigns as well as the controversial Care Not Cash. Because of his own banjo-playing habit, he called Hardly Strictly his "selfish gift" to San Francisco, but it will be the legacy the general public will most remember him for. He made a fine example for San Francisco wealthy in putting his money where his mouth and heart were, and for that we salute him.

Below, a clip of Hellman's band, The Wronglers, performing at Hardly Strictly in 2009.

[Chron]
[Bay Citizen]