Credit steve carmody / Michigan Radio Eli Broad, a Michigan State University alumnus who became a billionaire philanthropist and contemporary art collector, has died. He was 87. Suzi Emmerling, a spokeswoman for the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, confirmed his death to The Associated Press. She said Broad died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a long illness. After graduating from MSU in 1954, Broad co-founded homebuilding pioneer Kaufman and Broad Inc. and launched financial services giant SunAmerica Inc, both Fortune 500 companies. Broad left his mark on the East Lansing campus with the business school and art museum that bear his name, as part of more than $100 million he donated to Michigan State.