CA's Sobrato family made fortune in real estate, signed the Giving Pledge; the $5b they're sitting on looks slated for philanthropy that could remake a region.
"The Sobrato Family Foundation is a funder that we pay close attention to in the Bay Area. But just maybe this will become a bigger story. Silicon Valley real estate mogul John A. Sobrato channeled his wealth to establish a family foundation in 1996 to support nonprofits in Santa Clara, San Mateo and Southern Alameda counties. From that time until the end of 2013, the Sobrato Family Foundation had contributed $107.7 million to 442 local organizations. . . . However, we’ve noticed that there’s a lot of Sobrato money sitting on the sidelines right now. And this fortune continues to grow rapidly. According to Forbes, John A. Sobrato had an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion in March 2013, but as of June 2014, that amount has jumped and is edging closer to $5 billion." -- Alyssa Ochs, Inside Philanthropy
