Edward Bass is 46 years old and--as heir to a fortune that originated with his great-uncle Sid Richardson, a Texas oil wildcatter--is one of the wealthiest men in the United States. But although many of his siblings' interests run more toward luxury and high-stakes business ventures, he prefers a down-to- earth lifestyle. He drives his own car, flies commercial airlines, and doesn't spend a lot of money on fancy houses, says his publicist, Terrell Lamb. He is also one of the largest benefactors of environmental research in the world, not all of which attract as much interest--and derision--as Biosphere 2. Besides funding Biosphere 2 and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Bass is on the board of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF); the New York Botanical Garden; the African Wildlife Foundation; and the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation. In a July 1992 article in Vanity Fair, ...
Billionaire Bass Moves Beyond Biosphere 2
As his radical ecology experiment meets with criticism, even ridicule, he shows more interest in mainstream science Texas billionaire Edward Bass, best known for his bankrolling of Biosphere 2, now appears to be focusing his largess a bit closer to the scientific mainstream. The Biosphere 2 project, an experiment set up near Tucson, Ariz., attempting to establish a sealed, self-sustaining, three-acre module with eight humans inside, has taken a beating from the press and scientists over its la
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