Wealthy Baltimore Family — Big on Charity and Deeply Religious — Is Shaken by Allegations Against One of Its Own
Known for its medical philanthropy and successful real estate empire, Luigi Mangione’s family has earned plenty of good will in Baltimore.
The suspect who allegedly stalked and executed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson comes from a prominent family of health care advocates who are deeply committed to philanthropy.
Luigi Mangione, is one of 37 grandchildren of Nicholas B. Mangione, Sr. and Mary Cuba Mangione who built a real estate, radio, and nursing home empire in Baltimore. The family foundation has given millions to educational, health, religious, health care, and other charitable groups.
Mr. Mangione’s family has donated to numerous hospitals, including more than $1 million for the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, where a ward for high-risk obstetrics is named after the family, reports The Baltimore Banner. Six of their 10 children attended Loyola University, where the family has the aquatic center named after it.
The Mangione Family Foundation, the charitable arm of the family’s enterprises first formed in 1960, has given generously to private school education. According to its 2022 tax return, among the nearly $267,000 donated to 36 organizations, $50,000 went to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, $50,000 to Mercy Catholic School for Girls, $30,000 to Loyola Blakefield Jesuit High School, $20,000 to Calvert High Catholic School for boys, and $16,000 to Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. Dozens of other schools, hospitals, and community organizations, including Chabad Lubavitch in Ellicott City and Bais Yaakov, have received grants from the family fund. In 2021, it gave similar amounts to the same charities as well as $55,000 to Gilchrist Hospice Care, among others.
The story of the Mangione family is one of American success. The family patriarch, Nicholas Mangione, Sr., was born to meager beginnings in Baltimore’s Little Italy and rose to prominence through contracting and real estate development after returning from service in the Pacific during World War II.
“I didn’t have two nickels to rub together when my father died when I was 11, yet I still became a millionaire,” Mr. Mangione, who passed away in 2008, told The Baltimore Sun in a 1995 interview.
By the 1990s, the family held a diverse business empire that includes Turf Valley Resort, a former thoroughbred farm and golf course that sits on land once owned by Charles Carroll, the last surviving signatory to the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Mangione purchased the property in 1978 and turned it into a full-service conference center, resort, and spa. In 1986, the family bought the Hayfields Country Club in bucolic Hunt Valley and developed the property into a golf resort and wedding venue.
The family also ventured into local media. In 1988, it purchased local conservative talk radio station WCBM and eventually bought two more regional stations.
Mr. Mangione and his wife, Mary, invested in health care services early in their business ventures. In 1977, the couple founded Lorien Health Services, a group of senior care facilities. While at the Gilman School, an elite all-boys prep school in tony Roland Park, Grandson Luigi volunteered at one of the facilities to fulfill a high school community service requirement. Another cousin, John, is currently an administrator for Lorien.
Mary Mangione died in 2023. She had served on the board of the Baltimore Opera, as well as The Lyric Performing Arts Center, and according to her obituary was a past president of the Catholic Daughters of America (CDA), and a past president of the Woman’s Italian Charitable Organization ACIM.
The two eldest of the Mangione clan, Louis and John, both civil engineers, picked up the torch for most of the family’s operations. Louis, Luigi Mangione’s father, became the point person for the Mangione Family Enterprises, which is now closed.
The Mangione children became successful in operating a suite of family businesses. Nick and Mary’s grandchildren include Luigi’s cousin, Nino Mangione, who has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2019.
In a statement released by his office, the Mangione family said it is “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” but declined to speak in greater detail about what could have led one of their own to take another’s life.
“We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask people to pray for all involved,” Nino Mangione posted on his social media.
More than 200 Facebook friends offered the same sentiments, prayers and support, for the extended family on the post.
