11/06/2012

George Lucas Will Donate Disney $4 Billion To Education

By Paras Pitafi
Entertainment Correspondent, SAM Daily Times



The "Star Wars" director will donate the $4.05 billion he will receive from the sale of Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney to a foundation focused on education, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
On Tuesday, the Walt Disney Company announced it had paid the huge sum to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd., which produced "Star Wars" and is 100 percent owned by George Lucas himself. Disney also announced plans to release a seventh "Star Wars" film, "Star Wars: Episode VII," in 2015.
“For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company,” Lucas said in a statement on Wednesday. “As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy.”
The director has yet to disclose which charity will be the beneficiary of the huge chunk of money. But Lucas currently serves as the chairman of Edutopia, a foundation that empowers innovative coursework in schools. The organization is a likely choice, eonline.com speculates.
Lucas has made other generous donations to show his commitment to education in the past. In a Giving Pledge letter from 2010, he wrote:
“I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race. We have to plan for our collective future –- and the first step begins with the social, emotional, and intellectual tools we provide to our children. As humans, our greatest tool for survival is our ability to think and to adapt – as educators, storytellers, and communicators our responsibility is to continue to do so.”

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