Buyout of N.J. Corporation Reaps $10-Million in Gifts

When Beneficial Corporation was acquired in April by Household International, Finn M. W. Caspersen, 56, Beneficial’s chief executive, decided it was a good time to leave and start a new career: pursuing his investments and philanthropy. But two charitable gifts made after his departure have become the subject of controversy.

Mr. Caspersen turned down an offer from Household, a financial-services company in Prospect Heights, Ill., to serve as chairman of the merged company for a year and then spend another year as a consultant.

Soon after he announced his decision to leave, Household pledged $10-million in Mr. Caspersen’s honor to two of his favorite charities. The Peddie School, in Hightstown, N.J., from which Mr. Caspersen graduated in 1959, and Harvard Law School, of which he is a 1966 alumnus, will each receive $5-million.

Exactly why the gifts were made is unclear. Household says it simply wanted to honor Mr. Caspersen, but he has said that he urged the company to make the donations.

Questions about why the gifts were made were raised in The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere when a press release from the Peddie School described the donations as a “golden parachute” that had been offered to Mr. Caspersen and that he turned down. The confusion was heightened because the press release noted that the value of the gifts to Harvard and Peddie was roughly the same as the amount Mr. Caspersen would have received in compensation had he stayed.

Craig Streem, Household International’s vice-president for investor relations, said that the Peddie press release had been inaccurately phrased and speculation that the gifts had been made for any reason other than to honor Mr. Caspersen was untrue.