Rausing has also built up a formidable property empire. He has owned luxury homes in Barbados and, shortly after Eva died, he bought a £28.5m house overlooking the River Thames in London from Roman Abramovich, who then owned Chelsea FC. His property portfolio also includes the Lasborough Park estate in Gloucestershire, which is near the King’s Highgrove residence.
Julia died last year, yet another personal tragedy for her husband to deal with. But it appears to have spurred Rausing to be even more generous as a way of paying tribute to her. The charity was renamed to just be The Julia Rausing Trust shortly after her death, and it doubled its donation target from £50m each year to £100m. Rausing himself is hands-on at the charity, from taking big-picture strategic decisions to discussing the merits of individual pledges.
According to Simon Fourmy, the trust’s chief executive, Rausing’s decision to rebrand it was “a really extraordinary response to the desperately sad and tragic situation, and speaks to the great, great love that they had. And also to the really significant contribution she made in shaping the trust, and had a really clear vision of what their philanthropy could do and achieve, and was very instrumental in, together with him”. It also, as Fourmy adds, “speaks to the very, very modest individual he is”.
Last year, The Julia Rausing Trust gave £10m to the Royal Ballet & Opera (RBO) that would help pay for much-needed upgrades to its ageing stage. Alex Beard, the RBO chief executive, describes Rausing as being “low-ego, low-key, thoughtful” and “an extraordinarily generous and enlightened thoughtful philanthropist” who was “deeply, deeply in love with Julia”.
The extent of Rausing’s munificence was perhaps illustrated earlier this year, when it was announced that his trust was to give £150m to the National Gallery to build a transformational new wing. The donation, which is matched by the Welsh billionaire Michael Moritz, is the largest to any arts organisation, anywhere in the world, ever. Julia was fond of the National Gallery, and it was a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
