In 2004, The Broad Institute was launched with a $100 million gift from Eli and Edythe Broad. Discussions in 2002-2003 among Eli and Edythe Broad, MIT, Harvard and its affiliated hospitals, and the Whitehead Institute shaped the vision for this new institute.

The extraordinary generosity of Eli and Edythe Broad, through their founding gift of $100 million (later doubled to $200 million) made it possible to formally announce the new institute in Jun. 2003 and to launch it in May 2004.