Rich in Love

When Susan Samueli met her future husband, Henry, at a dance
at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles in 1979, she never could have
anticipated how different her life would be today.

That was 24 years and three children ago, before Samueli
became a household name in much of Southern California, as Henry co-founded
Broadcom, the leading provider in broadband high-speed communications
technology. It was way before Broadcom went public, and the Samuelis, with
Henry serving as chief technical officer, became multimillionaires nearly
overnight.

“It was sort of a shock to all of us,” said the 5-foot-10
Susan, dressed in a lightweight ivory sweater and pants as she sat in the family’s
foundation offices in Corona del Mar. “It was a rush because it came pretty
quickly, and we never expected it.”

Though much in Samueli’s life has changed — from “normal” in
Northridge to a mansion in Orange County with limousines and private planes —
her priorities have not. Her family, her Judaism and her career (she ran an
alternative health-care consulting practice until 1995) all guide her new life,
just as they did her old one.

As executive director of The Samueli Foundation, Samueli
oversees the distribution of the family’s philanthropic giving, which totals
$140 million to date. While the foundation seems to support diverse causes,
from health care to the arts and technology to Judaism, they are all causes and
interests important to the couple.

Being a mother, Samueli chooses philanthropic causes that
enhance the lives of young people, like Orangewood Children’s Foundation, which
provides services to families of abused and neglected children and offers a
supportive community for the children.

“I’m a mom and the thought of anyone abusing their children
is beyond anyone’s imagination,” said Samueli, who chairs a subgroup, 44 Women
for Children, which raises $100,000 a year for emancipated youth.

Samueli’s three daughters are her top priority. When the
family first moved to Orange County, Samueli quit her practice to raise the
kids, knowing that Henry would be working very long hours.

“She’s probably responsible for everything,” said Henry,
who, according to Forbes magazine, is in his late 40s. “Without her support, I
never could have achieved what I have done. It’s been a huge sacrifice on the
family, and she’s had to pick up the slack, and I’m very thankful to her for
doing that.”

Although her children are now older, Samueli continues to
make sure that she is home when they return from school, and she continues to
be very involved in their daily lives.

“I’m a typical Jewish mom, and it’s fun to spoil them and
buy them clothes. But I try to give them a sense of value in being a good
person … being honest and being nice.”

She often talks with her two oldest children, who grew up in
Northridge, about the drastic change that they have witnessed in the past eight
years.

“It’s a lot of responsibility to know that you have this
much and to know how to handle it properly. It’s not going to be easy for
them,” Susan said. “I sometimes feel a little bit sad for them, because when I
was dating, it never occurred to me to wonder if Henry was interested in me for
me or my money. Even when they have girlfriends, they have to decide if the
kids want them for the money or for themselves, and they really do have to
understand their friends.”

When her children were young and developed side effects to
traditional antibiotics, Samueli acquired an interest in alternative health
care. She pursued her interest in nutrition, homeopathy and Chinese herbs and
received a doctorate in nutrition from the American Holistic College of
Nutrition in 1993 and a diploma in homeopathy from the British Institute of
Homeopathy in 1994. This was in addition to her bachelor’s degree in
mathematics from UC Berkeley and 13 years at IBM as both a staff programmer and
a systems engineer.

Today, Samueli has relinquished her consulting responsibilities
but continues to contribute to the advancement of complementary medicine.
Through their foundation, the Samuelis endowed $5 million to create a center
for alternative medicine at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, which bears Susan
Samueli’s name. In 2001, the foundation also established the Samueli Institute,
which aims to apply the scientific rigor of traditional medicine to the field
of alternative medicine.

Samueli’s interest in health care is matched by her
husband’s passion for technology.

“But we have a common interest in Judaism,” Henry said.

Raised in the Valley, Susan Samueli was always immersed in
the activities of an active Jewish community.

“It was very different where I went to high school at Grant.
During the High Holidays, the campus was empty. Of course, everyone was
ditching who wasn’t Jewish, too,” Samueli said. But when the Samuelis moved to
Orange County, a community where there are an estimated 60,000 Jews, only 15
percent of whom are affiliated, she wanted to make sure that her children had
the same opportunities that she did.

The Samuelis maintain their Judaism at home, lighting
Shabbat candles and celebrating the Jewish holidays. Outside their home, the
couple is helping to build an Orange County Jewish community — literally.

In the spring of 2001, the Samuelis bought 20 acres of land
adjacent to the already existing Tarbut V’Torah Community Day School for $20
million. The site, overlooking the hills and valleys of much of Orange County
and directly opposite UC Irvine, will be the future site of the Samueli Campus.
The campus currently provides both elementary and high school education. The
second phase of the building project includes a full-service Jewish Community
Center with a fitness center, pool, theater and auditorium and facilities to
house the Jewish agencies of Orange County. Groundbreaking will begin when the
$20 million campaign goal is reached. (Approximately 80 percent of phase two
has been raised.)

The couple has also been instrumental in the construction of
two Orange County synagogues and recently funded a synagogue in a suburb of Tel
Aviv. They also give extensively to the Bureau of Jewish Education, Jewish
Family Services, the Jewish Federation of Orange County and Morasha Jewish Day
School.

Although much has changed for the Samuelis since they met at
a temple dance in 1979, their personal philosophy has not.

“Money should not change the person you are, your beliefs
and your values,” Henry said. “You have to maintain your value structure and
not let the money corrupt.” Â