Never his greatest fan but he is helping publicise donating to projects across the city, something I'd imagine is not top of the list of charitable causes. There is probably no other sector that has so much competition and despite the number of charities out there, it doesn't mean people give more money. All charitable organisations are fighting for the same pound.
Whether intentionally or not, he is promoting educational facilities within the city, even if it in reality is just having a university common room named after him. I'd much prefer to see money made from the Villa re-invested within the region on this type of project than some donkey sanctuary in Dorset.
Of course he loves the publicity, he always has but in this case I'm not going to beat him with a stick, as one of the comments made in that article says, he could be hiding his money off shore and avoiding taxes but he follows instead a long tradition of benefactors that the city of Birmingham has had since the Victorian days.
