Bruce Bastian

Be True to Yourself: WordPerfect Founder Bruce Bastian Tells His Story

[Excerpts from Dennis Romboy's "Bastian's profile low - in Utah, at least: But philanthropy gives ex-WordPerfect whiz plenty of clout," Deseret Morning News, June 22, 2003]

OREM - The Big Three at WordPerfect - Alan Ashton, Pete Peterson and Bruce Bastian - were known, respectively, as the good guy, the bad guy and the eccentric.

After the rise and fall of the software giant, Ashton sunk his millions into a sprawling resort called Thanksgiving Point, Peterson wrote a behind-the-scenes book about the company and Bastian made himself scarce, at least in Utah, where his sexual orientation, liberal politics and social causes don't usually mesh with the majority.

At one time Bastian's net worth was estimated at $840 million, good enough to make the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest individuals in America.

Now, nearly 10 years removed from WordPerfect, Bastian, 55, continues to live off the fortune he amassed, dabble in several business ventures and quietly practice philanthropy. He maintains a $3.5 million gated mansion in Orem near the old WordPerfect campus, as well as homes in Salt Lake City and London.

Friends and associates talk about him cautiously, even protectively. But chunks of the hundreds of millions of dollars he earned as co-founder of the once wildly successful software company turn up all over the place, revealing bits and pieces of the intensely private man who until now has shunned the media.

Bastian has kept a low profile in his home state partly because he doesn't think people can accept him for who he is, something he says he wasn't able to do himself until the past few years.

"People look at being gay as a deformity or a sickness or a choice. It's none of those. It's part of who I am. I am not Bruce Bastian, the gay person. I am Bruce Bastian, and by the way, yes, I happen to be gay." Though he has been careful not to reveal much about himself, Bastian unpretentiously makes symbolic, public statements with his checkbook.

The University of Utah and Brigham Young University have benefited from his generosity. Ballet West, Utah Symphony and the other performing arts troupes are on his give list. Environmental organizations, wildlife funds and homeless shelters receive contributions. Democratic political committees and candidates nationwide get some of his money, as do AIDS researchers and gay and lesbian groups.

Incognito in Utah, Bastian is well-recognized in Washington, D.C., among powerful politicians and lobbyists. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay and lesbian political action committee, honored him last fall for giving more than $1 million to its capital fund-raising project.

"Our plans are really to turn him into a national voice," HRC executive director Elizabeth Birch said. Birch said she believes Bastian is amenable to the idea, though "he needs to be persuaded of things. He's a little bit of a philosopher king. He likes to reflect more than get the attention."

While a lawyer at Apple Computer Inc. in the late 1980s, Birch heard through the "gay grapevine" that a founder of WordPerfect was gay. About 10 years later as head of the HRC she sought Bastian out, gradually wooing him to the organization. He is now on its board of directors.

"He's not one-dimensional. He's not just for gay rights. He's focused on making the entire world a better place," she said.

[...]

Many aspects of his life make him an uncomfortable fit in a county and a state that doesn't highly regard his ideals. Take his being a Democrat, and then put the word gay in front of it.

"To be a gay person among Democrats is not a big deal," Bastian said. "But to be a gay Democrat among other people in Utah, not only are you stupid but you are wicked, too."...

[...]

...Bastian often is a forgotten man when WordPerfect comes up nowadays. He's never invited to local entrepreneurial forums or Rotary luncheons to share his business and computer acumen. The Utah Information Technology Association didn't induct him into its hall of fame until a year after it honored Ashton, which would be like Stockton going into the pro basketball shrine without Malone or vice versa.

"It sometimes hurts me that in Utah, Alan is Mr. WordPerfect and he gets honors where I don't even get mentioned. He gets articles written about him where I don't even get mentioned. And we really did it together."

Former WordPerfect executive and friend John Lewis says the "muted" approach to Bastian stems from the community's conservative nature. He made choices "that we don't know how to deal with as a populace. I think we don't understand him. . . . It's just easier to avoid it, to put a blanket over it." Whether perception or reality, Bastian has long thought that people who don't know him despise him. Hateful e-mails from anonymous workers used to cross his computer screen at WordPerfect. He said he understands because he despised himself for many years.

"Sometimes I think it would be much easier to be a straight, Mormon Republican just doing what everybody else thinks you should do. Life would be so much easier. I can't do that."

Bastian and his wife, Melanie L. Bastian, divorced just before Christmas 1994, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple had lived apart for at least five years prior to that. A settlement agreement is sealed in 4th District Court in Provo.

Melanie Bastian did not respond to a written request for an interview. The Bastians' oldest son also declined to be interviewed.

Bastian grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho, learning the value of hard work on the family farm. His parents were musical and required all their children to take piano lessons. Bastian eventually switched to the clarinet and became an accomplished player.

His father owned a grocery store. He had a huge heart and would buy food for people who couldn't afford it. He also was free from prejudice. Some of the great black jazz artists like Duke Ellington and Count Basie were refused service in restaurants in the 1950s. The elder Bastian and his children brought dinner to their bus when they played in Idaho.

The Bastians were Republicans and members of the LDS Church. Bastian did all the things Mormon boys do in moving up the ranks in the church's priesthood. He went on a mission, married in the temple, had a family and served in a ward bishopric. Peterson described him as a "straight arrow."

But the outward appearance belied the conflict and confusion that churned in his soul for many years. It has been only the past five years that Bastian has been at peace, said Lewis, who traveled extensively in Europe with him for WordPerfect.

Bastian, he said, always had his nose in a book, often one about religion or reincarnation. The two had deep discussions about life. Bastian explored all the different aspects and angles of humankind. "His search was not superficial at all," said Lewis, now a Brigham Young University associate vice president for alumni.

Says Bastian, "I do not believe any human being can be happy without being true to himself or herself. I think that's the first rule of life. It's not easy and sometimes that goes against the grain."