Mystery Green Investor Opens Up About Giving Away $1 Billion

Walking past David Gelbaum on the street, or even discussing company matters over the phone with him, one would not assume that they are in the presence of one of the largest investors in green tech and champion environmental philanthropist.

The Prius-driving, unassuming, former mathematician and hedge fund manager does stick out like a sore thumb in his conservative residence of Orange County, Calif., but not for his savvy business efforts. Those efforts have been largely kept quiet until recently, when he became CEO of Entech Solar, one of the publicly-traded companies in his portfolio. He gave his first personal interview to The New York Times this past week.

Gelbaum claims he has invested, given away, or paid in taxes, one-third of his wealth. He has invested $500 million in renewable, sustainable and emerging green technology companies through his Quercus Trust. He has poured nearly equal that amount into environmental causes, including the Sierra Club and The Wildlands Conservancy, the land trust he co-founded.

The Mojave Desert is closely protected by The Wildlands Conservancy, which acquired half a million acres of land, and donated it to the federal government. The nonprofit also is largest provider of free outdoor education programs to more than 90,000 students per year. The acquired land was intended to house solar energy plants, and in what may seem like a conflict of interest, Gelbaum fought against the development in order to uphold environmental preservation.

“There are other areas appropriate for solar plants,” said Gelbaum in The New York Times article. “As distributed solar becomes lower-priced, there are plenty of roofs to put solar on.”

This is a man who has placed a lot faith in what he believes is the future for the environment and technology, showing promise that the two can, and will, work beautifully together. “I still don’t know which technology will end up winning, but I believe we’re on the cusp of a revolution in how energy is generated and distributed,” he said.

Photo courtesy of The Wildlands Conservancy.