Tim Busch

Timothy R. Busch is an American conservative Catholic attorney, businessman, and philanthropist from Orange County, California.^[1][2][3]

Early life

Busch grew up in Clinton, Michigan as the second of six children in a devoutly Catholic family.^[1] His father, Joe, founded and operated a chain of upscale supermarkets, Busch's Fresh Food Market.^[1] He received his bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University and his J.D. degree from Wayne State University Law School.^[1] In 1982, Busch moved to southern California.^[1] He married his wife, Steph, in 1985.^[1] he has a son, Garrett, and a daughter, Mackenzie.^[4] Busch lives in Nellie Gail Ranch, Laguna Hills, and has a second home at the Reserve Country Club in Indian Wells, California.^[4][1] He is a devout Catholic and active in Legatus and a number of other Catholic organizations and charities.^[1][4]

Career

Busch is the founder of the Busch Firm, a financial services company that specializes in high net-worth estate planning.^[1] The Busch Firm also handles real estate and business transactions.^[1] Busch also founded the Pacific Hospitality Group which owns and manages eight hotels in California.^[1] As of 2019^[update], Busch is the CEO.^[1] Busch and his brothers own the supermarket chain founded by their father.^[1]

Philanthropy

In 2011, Busch joined the Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer to create the Magis Institute, an organization dedicated to exploring the intersection of faith and reason.^[1] In 2011, he founded the Napa Institute with Spitzer in an effort to train Catholic leaders to defend the faith in an increasingly secular society.^[1] The Napa Institute is known for its annual conferences at a California wine spa that aims to blend "conservative theology and libertarian economics, with an emphasis on apologetics, sexual ethics and countercultural anti-secularization", and has been linked to ultraconservative critics of Pope Francis.^[5]

In 1992, Busch and his wife founded St. Anne's School in Laguna Niguel.^[1] They also started JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano.^[1] In 2016, Busch's charitable foundation, the Busch Family Foundation, gave $15 million to The Catholic University of America.^[1][6] Busch helped bring in an additional $32 million in gifts that were used in part to renovate Maloney Hall, and to turn it into a home for the renamed Tim and Steph Busch School of Business.^{[6][7][8][9][1][10]} The building has been described as "Harvard on the outside, Google on the inside",^[8] as well as "one of the premier academic buildings in Washington, D.C. if not the country".^[9] In 2016, Busch finished serving on the board of the university for 12 years.^[1][6] He also served on the board of visitors of the business school.^[1]