Philanthropy Is Not Enough

His wealth is prodigious. He controls 15 companies--ranging from a cement combine to a paper and pulp plant--whose annual sales exceed $100 million, and his personal fortune is estimated to be at least $25 million. But Venezuela's courtly Eugenio Mendoza, 56, is more than his country's leading industrialist; he is also its leading philanthropist. Says he: "We businessmen always talk about the need to make dividends for our shareholders, but we must also create a dividend for the community."

As early as 1934, Mendoza granted bonuses and set up profit sharing for his workers; today, his 5,000 employees receive nearly half as much in profit sharing as they do in salaries. He supports agricultural research, sponsors book publishing, scholarships, Caracas youth centers, and an exhibition gallery for artists. Another dividend to Venezuela has been the Children's Orthopedic Hospital, which he built in 1945. His eldest son's tragic death by drowning in 1952 has impelled him to do even more for children. He founded a children's nursery in Maracaibo in his son's memory. His current enthusiasm is low-cost private housing. Helped by a $5.000,000 loan from the U.S., Mendoza has built 500 houses, has 2,000 more under construction, and plans to start 3,000 more this year.

Mendoza bought a small building-materials company in 1930, soon after the oil boom burst over the country. As the new riches sparked a spurt of building. Mendoza's company grew to dominate the construction-products market. An enlightened businessman. Mendoza realized that what was good for Venezuela was also good for him. In a brief stint as Minister of Development during World War II, he helped enact the laws that formed the basis for the precedent-shattering 50-50 formula that guaranteed Venezuela at least half the profits of the oil companies doing business in the country.

Inevitably, Mendoza has been drawn into the maelstrom of Venezuelan politics. Last December he helped found the Venezuelan Association of Independents (A.V.I.), a group of blue-chip businessmen and professionals, which intends to fight alongside the usual political organizations on behalf of sound fiscal policies and stepped-up development. The Association took planks of fiscal orthodoxy--a balanced budget, a free-as-possible economy, safeguards for private capital--and nailed them together into a platform designed to ease the basic plight of Venezuela : that "more than half of the population do not manage to satisfy the minimum needs of a human being."

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