Los Angeles Museum Board Members Ordered to Undergo Financial Training

The NY Times reported the California Attorney General’s office has ordered the board members of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which came close to a financial collapse in 2008, to undergo special fiduciary training after the office determined that the museum flouted state law in the way it managed its budget, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The museum lost more than $30 million from its investment portfolio over several years, ending up with only $5 million on hand in 2008, and it broke state law when it paid general expenses from restricted endowment funds, according to the newspaper, which obtained a two-page letter sent to the museum by the attorney general’s office last November.

In December 2008 the museum negotiated a $30 million bailout with Eli Broad, Los Angeles’s leading cultural patron, which allowed it to maintain its facilities and avoid selling off artwork. As a result of that agreement and new giving by other donors, the museum’s investments have improved, with their value rising to more than $14 million.