The Berggruen Institute is an independent, non-partisan think tank founded in 2010 by investor Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels in Los Angeles. Its original mission was born from high-level conversations about global challenges after the 2008 financial crisis, bringing together scholars, policymakers, and business leaders to rethink governance as China’s influence grew and Western democracies faced new pressures.
Funded primarily by Nicolas Berggruen, who endowed the institute with over $600 million, the Berggruen Institute now operates with headquarters in downtown Los Angeles and additional hubs in Beijing and Venice. A new 137,000-square-foot scholars' campus, Monteverdi, is under development in the Santa Monica Mountains, with nearly all of the 447-acre site preserved as open space.
The institute addresses themes like renovating democracy, universal capital, planetary challenges, and humanity’s future, aiming to connect philosophical reflection with policy design. Notably, it has established the $1 million annual Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture, fosters dialogue at the China Center in Peking University, and has promoted reforms such as changes to California’s referendum process.
Recent projects include the Transformations of the Human program, examining the intersection of science, technology, and philosophy, and citizens’ assembly initiatives in Europe and California. Its fellows, drawn from leading universities worldwide, have produced over 50 books and contributed their expertise to global institutions, including the UN and WHO. The institute also publishes Noema Magazine to spotlight contemporary global issues.