Annenberg Foundation Shifts its Base

Still, she said, Mrs. Annenberg had ensured that funding for the Barnes move would be locked in: "She was a superb businesswoman."

(In addition to Lenfest and the Pew, the best-funded Philadelphia-focused philanthropy is the William Penn Foundation, supported by the Haas Family Trusts.)

More than a year ago, the Annenberg Foundation - with assets of $2.7 billion as of 2007 - began to telegraph on its Web site that a transition was in process, featuring biographies of Wallis and the Annenberg grandchildren in Los Angeles and Paris and describing their involvements in projects internationally.