Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen's foundation donated just 0.08% of ex-couple's wealth in 13 years
BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS: Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady's charity came under unfavorable scrutiny on Nov 17 when it was revealed that the ex-power couple has barely made any contributions to other charities. The news comes at a time when Bundchen, 42, and Brady, 45, finalized their divorce after 13 years of marriage and last month split their assets totaling nearly $770 million.
Luz Foundation received less than 0.09 per cent of their fortune, a fact that only became known after her divorce and sparked interest in the foundation. During their 13-year relationship, it donated $640,000 of the couple's $770 million fortune, with some charities receiving as little as $300. The Foundation was established in 2007 by the supermodel with the stated goal of supporting and giving grants to young women.
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"My life is devoted to this," she said, in a 2015 interview. "I know from the outside that people think: 'This girl just poses for pictures.' But in my head, I'm thinking the whole time, 'Okay, if I take this job, then I can have more money to put into this.' So that's what I'm doing because that's [why] God gave me to do what I can do, right?"
Three years later, the Long Island-based organization was granted IRS tax-exempt status. The amount that was given to other charities is equivalent to 0.083 per cent of the couple's total wealth, New York Post reports. Bundchen led the foundation together with Brady and Peter Mattoon, a financier who assists Brady with his ventures. Even though Bundchen declared the charity to be her life's work, the amounts it gave out were astonishingly meager for people of their status.
A Costa Rican environmental NGO called Waterkeeper Nicoya Peninsula received $300 in donations last year, where the now-divorced couple has a home. In accordance with their divorce settlement, Bundchen is thought to have retained the property. The donation was completely absent from Waterkeeper's list of sponsors, and neither Bundchen, Brady nor the foundation were listed.
According to tax records obtained by The New York Post, the World Wildlife Fund received $900, while the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which aids persons with physical limitations, received $1,000. Bundchen served on the Rainforest Alliance's board of directors in 2014 and 2015. The couple donated $48,000 to the alliance in 2014, followed by $25,000 in 2015.
Most of the money from the Luz Foundation seems to have gone to yoga and meditation groups. The David Lynch Foundation, a New York-based organization that supports yoga and meditation in schools, received $25,000 in 2017. You Go Girl Yoga, based in Massachusetts, got $25,000 in that year. $80,000 was provided to the Pointing Out the Great Way Foundation, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that supports Indo-Tibetan meditation, according to the organization's most recent tax filing from 2019.
Brady and Bündchen also garnered media attention when they donated 750,000 meals to Feeding Tampa Bay at the height of the pandemic in 2020. The contribution took place at the same time as the illustrious quarterback signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March of that year.
Bündchen was recently appointed the director of Environmental and Social Initiatives for FTX, the collapsed cryptocurrency business Sam Bankman-Fried created, which is said to be missing $1 billion in client cash. Investors Bündchen and Brady have used advertisements and interviews to support FTX. In April, Bündchen announced Bankman-Fried's vow to donate $1 billion to good works during the following year. Investors who recently lost money in the collapse of the crypto business, which was reputedly valued at more than $32 billion, are now suing Bündchen, her ex-NFL quarterback, and other celebrity FTX endorsers.
Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, also runs his own charity, the TB12 Foundation, which, according to public records, aims to "inspire" and aid athletes by giving them access to "innovative health and wellness resources."