Founded 1944 | ||
The Otto Bremer Trust is a private foundation located in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Otto Bremer in 1943 and owns 92 percent of Bremer Bank. It receives an equivalent share of the bank profits that are paid out as dividends.
The trust makes grants in North Dakota, Minnesota, and western Wisconsin. In 2014, the trust provided $42 million in grants and program-related investments.
Controversy
In July 2014, the executive director of the trust was abruptly "pushed out in a restructuring of the organization." The trust's three trustees subsequently became co-CEOs, creating a title that allowed for their uncharacteristically large salaries; according to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, "In 2013 alone, the trustees received more than $1.2 million from the trust, compared to the $24,000 median trustee compensation among the country's largest foundations." Furthermore, the trustees' total salaries grew rapidly over the course of a decade, increasing from $124,500 in 2004 to over $1.2 million in 2013 alone, a 1000 percent increase.