"We essentially adopted them," said Eddy Bayardelle, who is in charge of philanthropy at Merrill Lynch.
Ms. Harris, in charge of philanthropy at Bloomberg L.P. at the time, turned him down, saying the company was "focused on New York and London," recalled Mr. Belson, who said he remained an admirer of Mr. Bloomberg.
Debra L. Dunn, the senior Hewlett-Packard executive in charge of its philanthropy, said a small-loan program could enable consumers in the developing world to afford some of the company's computers, printers or digital cameras.
In 2004 she was put in charge of Google's for-profit philanthropy arm, Google.org, which focused on the problems of climate change, public health, and poverty.
"I can completely understand the cynicism and understand the questions about philanthropy and investments in sports," said Ray Bednar, who is in charge of global sponsorship marketing at Bank of America.
Stephen Caddick, a chemist in charge of the enterprise and strategy unit at University College London, called the proposal "not uninteresting" but said it was not clear whether the new university would be run as a business, for profit, or as a philanthropy.
During over three decades in active charge of the philanthropy of the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation Mr. McNamara had a major role in the disbursement of over $120,000,000 in charitable funds to undergraduate institutions of higher learning as well as hospitals, medical centers and medical schools, arts and culture activities and legal programs.
"Policy work makes you no friends," he wrote in the Chronicle of Philanthropy in 2014.
