From refugee to real estate mogul

Born in Poland, Tad immigrated to the United States in 1939 with his parents, Zygmunt Taube and Lola Popper Taube, just before the Nazi invasion. Forced to leave family and friends and most of their wealth, they settled in California.

Tad became a model student and even starred as a Polish boy in the wartime Hollywood film “The Greenie.” He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a master’s in industrial management from Stanford University. After a stint in the U.S. Air Force, he found early success in the semiconductor industry, working for two companies.

While succeeding in high tech, Tad remained open to new possibilities. As he once said, “If you were to draw a road map of my life, it would have multiple forks. I often find myself driving along several paths at the same time.”

Real estate offered an unexplored path. Partnering with Stanford roommate Benjamin Johnson, Tad launched The Woodmont Companies, which soon grew into one of the largest privately owned investment real estate companies on the West Coast.

Tad later became Chairman and CEO of Koracorp Industries, successor to Koret of California, a San Francisco–based apparel company that emerged as a leader in women’s coordinated separates and sportswear. He led the firm from 1973 until 1979, when he successfully negotiated its profitable sale to Levi Strauss.

A life’s mission of generosity

After selling Koret of California, Tad proposed investing a portion of the proceeds in a charitable foundation. Together with Joe and Stephanie Koret, he established the Koret Foundation, which Tad led for the next 25 years, gaining valuable experience in strategic philanthropy. When Tad began his own foundation, he applied the same strategic rigor to giving as he did to business.

Tad was also determined to make change. As former Secretary of State George P. Shultz once wrote, “What struck me then, and has continued to stand out through two decades of watching Tad in action, is the depth of his philanthropic pursuits. Beyond his generosity of spirit, Tad actively works to make a difference. He wants to see results.”

Tad helped pioneer “collaborative giving”, leveraging matching grants to amplify impact while encouraging collective generosity and shared responsibility.

Philanthropy Across Sectors

Like Tad’s varied business careers, his philanthropic endeavors reflected a wide range of causes. He was dedicated to the principles of a democratic society, including economic opportunity, individual freedom, intellectual diversity on university campuses, and American pride. With Dianne, his wife of 28 years, he supported institutions including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Hoover Institution, where the Tad and Dianne Taube Director is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, which Tad co-founded, and Pepperdine University’s Taube Family Chair of International Relations and Politics, held by Dr. Kiron Skinner. 

Locally, Tad funded projects that enriched the lives of millions across California. Generous gifts enhanced the San Francisco Opera’s performance space, while broadcasts at the ballpark brought music to larger audiences. When the Bay Bridge’s “Bay Lights” installation went dark, Tad reignited the beloved project, now sustained with continued support from his family.

A devoted sports fan, Tad supported Stanford athletics through the Taube Family Tennis Stadium and the football stadium and chaired the Stanford Athletic Board. He created innovative programs for at-risk youth in partnerships with Bay Area professional sports teams, including “Hoops for Kids” with the Golden State Warriors, “Touchdowns for Kids” with the San Francisco 49ers, and “Goals for Kids” with the San Jose Sharks.

Tad also invested in groundbreaking healthcare initiatives, such as the Tad and Dianne Taube Pavilion at Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, as well as efforts addressing youth addiction, concussions, pediatric cancer, and maternal and mental health. He helped launch the Neurodegenerative Disease Research Collaborative, uniting Stanford, UCSF, the Gladstone Institutes, the Buck Institute, and Tel Aviv University.

Cultivating Jewish Peoplehood

Tad believed in the concept of Jewish Peoplehood, which views Judaism as a distinct civilization consisting of religion, culture, and history. “Jewish Peoplehood is part of the DNA of Jewish life,” Tad wrote. “It advances a sense of destiny and belonging that binds together all Jews around the world, irrespective of birth, nationality, tradition, or practice.”

Tad was instrumental in fostering Jewish Peoplehood in the Bay Area, home to the fourth-largest Jewish population in the United States. He supported Hillels and helped develop six Jewish community centers. He was also the Founder and Advisory Board Chairman of Stanford’s Taube Center for Jewish Studies and led the acquisition of Stanford Libraries’ Taube Family Archive of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, 1945-1946.

Tad supported many institutions uniquely identified with Judaism, including the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the National Library of Israel, the Israel Museum, and Hebrew University, which bestowed on him its highest honor, the Scopus Award. Gifts to ANU ‒ The Museum of the Jewish People, funded the Taube Family Memorial Entrance, dedicated to Tad’s parents, Zyga and Lola Taube, and his sister, Nita Hirsch, a Holocaust survivor.

Tad’s most challenging and perhaps rewarding journey into Jewish Peoplehood was in Poland, a nation he had left at age eight on the eve of the German invasion. Decades later, he returned to help restore Jewish life and culture in the post-Communist era. Tad established the Jewish Heritage Initiative in Poland (JHIP) and became the leading private benefactor of Warsaw’s acclaimed POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

Tad’s return to his birthplace brought his story full circle, fulfilling his commitments to family, to a democratic Poland, and to the peoplehood of Jews across the globe. His many contributions earned Tad the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Merit, awarded by President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski in June 2015, the nation’s highest honor for a foreign civilian. He had previously received the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit in 2004, in addition to Poland’s Medal of Honor, and was appointed Honorary Consul of Poland in the Bay Area in 2007. As former President Aleksander Kwaśniewski shared in a video tribute, “I admire Tad Taube ‒ his efforts, commitment, determination, and generosity. I’m grateful [to him] for protecting Jewish heritage in Poland, for his support in shaping the younger generation in the spirit of Polish-Jewish reconciliation.”

A Legacy Continued

Tad is survived by his beloved wife Dianne and children Mark, Paula, Sean, Juddson, Travis, and Zakary. Together, they continue his legacy through the family foundation.

Dianne often spoke of her husband’s insatiable drive to help others through good words and good works. “His impact will shape the world for years to come,” she said.