Early Life
Scaife was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Alan Scaife, the head of an affluent Pittsburgh family, and Sarah Mellon, who was a member of the influential Mellon family, one of the most powerful families in the country. Sarah Mellon Scaife was the niece of former United States Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon. She and her brother, financier R.K. Mellon, were heirs to the Mellon fortune that included Mellon Bank and major stakes in Gulf Oil and Alcoa aluminum.
Scaife attended high school at Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He was expelled from Yale University in the aftermath of a drunken party, and later attended the University of Pittsburgh where his father was chairman of the board of trustees. Scaife graduated with a bachelor's degree in English in 1957.
Scaife inherited positions on several corporate boards in 1958 when his father Alan died unexpectedly. However his family had become estranged from his uncle, R.K., who retained control of the companies. His mother encouraged him to get involved in the family's philanthropic foundations, and he did so. (See management of Scaife family foundations.)
He inherited a good part of the Mellon fortune when his mother died in 1972. A portion of the fortune was placed in trust funds and the rest in foundations. The trusts expired in 1985 and, per tax law, the foundations must give away 5% of their assets per year. Disbursements from each foundation are done through boards of directors.
In 1973 he became estranged from his sister Cordelia Scaife May and he took control of many of the family foundations while Cordelia supported her own charities, including Planned Parenthood and the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. Shortly before her death, the siblings reconciled and he eulogized her in January 2005, lauding "Cordy" for devoting her life and resources to "worthwhile causes".
Read more about this topic: Richard Mellon Scaife
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