US | David Rubenstein Billionaire Pays to Fix Washington Monument David Rubenstein chips in $7.5M By Kevin Spak Posted Jan 19, 2012 8:33 AM CST Copied Engineers suspended by ropes conduct a block-by-block inspection of the Washington Monument exterior in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2011. (Getty Images/AFP) Billionaire history buff and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein has agreed to chip in $7.5 million to help repair the damage the Washington Monument suffered in the August earthquake that shook the region. Congress had already allocated $7.5 million to the task, and expected an equal amount to be raised privately, the AP explains; Rubenstein says he felt inspired to pick up the entire remaining tab "as a good citizen." "What greater symbol is there in Washington of our country?" reflects Rubenstein, who last month donated $4.5 million to save the National Zoo's giant panda program, and earlier last year gave $13.5 million to the National Archives (which next month will debut a $21 million copy of the Magna Carta purchased by, yep, Rubenstein). "I am committed to philanthropy," he tells the Washington Post. And public-private partnerships like this one "are a good thing ... because the government doesn't have all the money that it used to have." Read These Next Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Rubio says the fate of Iran's conversion facility is what matters. Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. Some of the most explosive Diddy allegations are dropped. Report an error