Charges of Nepotism Cast Shadow on Carnegie Hall

The son-in-law of a major donor to Carnegie Hall has been awarded a lucrative contract to design a $150-million expansion for the institution, reports The New York Times.

Sanford I. Weill is chairman of the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Hall and the former chief executive officer of Citigroup. Mr. Weill’s son-in-law, Natan Bibliowicz, who is married to his daughter Jessica, has been hired as the architect of the project.

Jack B. Siegel, a tax lawyer, said the arrangement “raises questions as to what else is going on, what other relationships are there.” He added that the arrangement cast a negative light on Mr. Weill, saying, “It is arrogant, but it is also sad. Weill diminishes his own philanthropy, as well as his son-in-law’s stature.”

Mr. Weill says there was no impropriety, stating that he had nothing to do with the selection of his son-in-law. He said, “I didn’t play any role in this whole process. There are conflicts of interest in most everything one does in life. It’s up to people to be able to properly handle conflicts in a moral and ethical way, and I think I’ve always done that.”

For more on Mr. Weill, read The Chronicle’s profile.

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