Established in 1977 in CA - Founded by Bernard Osher, a founding director of World Savings, the second largest savings institution in the United States that merged with Wachovia Corporation. Mr. Osher, a patron of education and the arts, as well as a collector of American paintings of the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries, purchased the fine art auction house of Butterfield & Butterfield in 1970. He oversaw its growth to become the fourth largest auction house in the world and in 1999 he sold the company to eBay. His wife, Barbro Osher, is Consul General for Sweden in San Francisco, CA. She is the former owner and publisher of Vestkusten, one of the few Swedish-American newspapers in the United States. She is also the founder of the Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA) chapter in San Francisco, CA. Bernard and Barbro Osher have committed to The Giving Pledge, and have pledged to give away at least half their wealth to philanthropy