Curated playlist

Philanthropists from New York (state)

Lady GagaLady Gaga's name may have come from a phone typo. Producer Rob Fusari said autocorrect turned "Radio Ga Ga" into "Lady".
Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald walked onstage at the Apollo Theater planning to dance, then chose to sing. She was 17 in 1934.
John D. RockefellerJohn D. Rockefeller, the son of a traveling con artist, became the first billionaire in the United States.
Mark ZuckerbergIn January 2024, Mark Zuckerberg turned to families of harmed children at a Senate hearing and apologized.
Mariah CareyMariah Carey handed her demo tape to a record boss at a party in December 1988. He turned his car around.
Sean CombsSean Combs founded Bad Boy Records, which launched the Notorious B.I.G. He was later sentenced to four years in prison.
Ryan ReynoldsRyan Reynolds gave up his usual fee so the Deadpool film would get made.
Paris HiltonParis Hilton became so inescapable in 2007 that parts of the American press tried to stop mentioning her. The Associated Press attempted to leave her out for the week of the 19th of February 2007. On the 26th of June 2007, host Mika…
Ralph LaurenRalph Lauren received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden on the 4th of January 2025. He was the first fashion designer ever to receive that award. As of May 2025, his net worth was estimated at US$11.9 billion. His…
Fred TrumpFrederick Christ Trump was an American real estate developer who built more than 27,000 apartments in New York. He was born in the Bronx on the 11th of October 1905 to German immigrant parents, and he died in 1999. One of his five children…
Caroline KennedyCaroline Kennedy was a small girl riding a pony named Macaroni when a news photograph of her became the seed of a pop song. The picture showed her circling the White House grounds. It inspired singer-songwriter Neil Diamond to write "Sweet…
50 Cent50 Cent was shot nine times in 2000, then blacklisted by the music industry. He built his comeback on mixtapes.
J. P. MorganA visit from J. P. Morgan, one man said, left him feeling "as if a gale had blown through the house." The American financier had that effect on people. He was physically large, with massive shoulders and piercing eyes. His nose was swollen…
Alicia KeysAlicia Keys was fifteen years old when Columbia Records tried to win her signature with a $26,000 white baby grand piano. She took the deal. It began a long struggle over who would decide what her music sounded like. Years later she summed…
Mel GibsonMel Gibson was paid $400 for his first film role, in Summer City, while he was still a drama student. A short time later, the title role in Mad Max paid him $9000. In the year 2000, Hollywood handed him a record $25 million to star in The…
Iman (model)On the 7th of June 2010, the Somali-American model and actress Iman accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The prize was called Fashion Icon, and it is reserved for "an individual whose…
Barbra StreisandBarbra Streisand once filed a lawsuit that sent a crowd of strangers to look at a single photograph. In 2003 she claimed that a website documenting coastal erosion had invaded her privacy. Among its more than 12,000 images, one happened to…
Julia Louis-DreyfusElaine Benes on Seinfeld was not part of the original show. NBC executives found the pilot too male-centric.
Bernie MadoffBernie Madoff told his own sons in December 2008 that the fund he ran was "just one big lie." Bernard Lawrence Madoff was an American financier, born in 1938, who had once served as chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange. He admitted to…
Nelson PeltzNelson Peltz is an American billionaire investor who once planned to spend his life teaching people to ski in Oregon. Instead, he became one of the best-known activist investors in corporate America, a man who buys a stake in a famous…
Jamie DimonIn November 1998, Sandy Weill asked Jamie Dimon to resign from Citigroup. Dimon was forty-two and had no plan.
Idina MenzelIn 1992, a young singer named Idina Menzel recorded a demo of a song called "In Your Eyes" and was paid $75 for the job. The song went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, sung by the Irish performer Niamh Kavanagh. That story…
Jim SimonsJim Simons, born James Harris Simons, once explained his dislike of publicity by borrowing a line from Benjamin the Donkey in Animal Farm. "God gave me a tail to keep off the flies. But I'd rather have had no tail and no flies. That's kind…
Armand HammerArmand Hammer was buried across the street from the oil company he ran for 33 years. He never practiced medicine.