Lorry I. Lokey

Lorry I. Lokey (born March 27, 1927) is an American businessperson and philanthropist. A native of Portland, Oregon, he founded the company Business Wire in 1961 and has donated in excess of $700 million to charities, with the majority of the money given to schools. He resides in San Francisco, California.

Early life
Lorry Lokey was born on March 27, 1927, in Portland, Oregon and raised in a Jewish family in Portland, attending Alameda Elementary School. Growing up in Northeast Portland, he graduated from Grant High School before joining the United States Army and fighting in World War II. While in the service he worked on the Pacific Stars & Stripes as an editor after the war ended.

In 1949 he graduated from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism. While at Stanford he served as editor of the school newspaper, the Stanford Daily. Upon graduation Lokey began working for United Press, now United Press International, and then at newspapers and in the public relations field. One newspaper he worked for was the Longview Daily News in Longview, Washington.

Business career
In 1961, Lokey started Business Wire, a news release service. Founded in San Francisco, California, the company started with seven clients on the first day of business. The company expanded and became an international wire service with 30 offices around the world. By 2003, the company had grown to 450 employees with annual revenue of $110 million. In 2006, Lokey sold Business Wire for approximately $600 million to Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's corporation.

Philanthropy
Lokey began donating large sums of money to charities in 1990. By 2007 he had donated more than $400 million, of which 98 percent was given to secondary and post-secondary education. Some schools include the University of Oregon, Mills College, Stanford University, the Technion, Santa Clara University, Bellarmine College Preparatory, and Portland State University. These efforts led to his listing as one of the ten highest donors in the United States by the Chronicle of Philanthropy in 2006.

As of June 2014, Lokey has donated a total of $139.9 million to the University of Oregon in Eugene. This includes a $74.5 million donation in 2007 that was the second most ever given to the school, and the largest donation designated for academics. The 2007 donation went towards the creation of the Lorry I. Lokey Science Advancement and Graduate Education Initiative.

In October 2008, the Stanford School of Medicine announced that Lokey would donate $75 million for a research facility. The facility is named the Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building.