Bay Area Real Estate’s Tad Taube Dead at 94

Thaddeus “Tad” Taube, a real estate titan of the San Francisco Bay Area and prolific philanthropist, has died at the age of 94.

Taube died at his home in San Mateo County, according to a statement from Taube Philanthropies.

Born in Poland in 1931, Taube immigrated to the United States in 1939 with his parents Zygmunt Taube and Lola Popper Taube just before the Nazi invasion of the country. The family settled in California, with Taube even breaking into Hollywood as a boy with his role as a Polish child in the 1942 wartime film “The Greenie.”

Taube went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a master’s in industrial management from Stanford University. He spent time in the U.S. Air Force before going on to work for two companies in the semiconductor industry. After his stint in tech, Taube turned his sights elsewhere.

“If you were to draw a road map of my life, it would have multiple forks,” the Polish philanthropist said. “I often find myself driving along several paths at the same time.”

At first, he joined forces with Stanford roommate Benjamin Johnson to create The Woodmont Companies. The firm went on to become one of the largest privately owned investment real estate companies on the West Coast.

From there, he became chairman and CEO of Koracorp Industries, the successor to San Francisco-based apparel company Koret of California. He was in charge of the company from 1973 until 1979 when he negotiated the sale of the company to denim giant Levi Strauss.

Once he sold Koret of California, he established the Koret Foundation for charitable causes, leading the organization for the next quarter century.

“What struck me then, and has continued to stand out through two decades of watching Tad in action, is the depth of his philanthropic pursuits,” former Secretary of State George P. Shultz once said of Taube. “Beyond his generosity of spirit, Tad actively works to make a difference. He wants to see results.”

In his home country, Taube founded and helped fund the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.

In the Bay Area and across California, Taube funded projects including the revamp of the San Francisco Opera’s performance space and the reinstallation of the Bay Bridge’s “Bay Lights.” He supported Stanford athletics through the construction of the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Besides that, he launched programs for at-risk youth in tandem with Bay Area sports teams such as “Hoops for Kids” with the Golden State Warriors, “Touchdowns for Kids” with the San Francisco 49ers and “Goals for Kids” with the San Jose Sharks.

In addition to sports, education and museums, Taube invested in health care initiatives like the Tad and Dianne Taube Pavilion at Stanford’s children’s hospital and efforts to address youth addiction, concussions, pediatric cancer and maternal and mental health. He helped launch the Neurodegenerative Disease Research Collaborative between several universities including Stanford.

Taube is survived by his wife Dianne, who serves as president of Taube Philanthropies, and their children Mark, Paula, Sean, Juddson, Travis and Zakary.

“His impact will shape the world for years to come,” Dianne said.