Lisbon, June 15, 2026 (Lusa) - Last year, Portugal's Lisbon-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s assets reached over €4 billion, an increase of 0.32% compared with the end of 2024, with the investment portfolio growing by 1.79%.
According to the organisation’s annual report and accounts, its assets consist “essentially of financial assets (the Foundation’s investment portfolio) amounting to €3.881 billion”.
According to the document, the investment portfolio increased by €68.12 million (+1.79%) compared to the figure as at 31 December 2024.
The organisation’s capital fund, meanwhile, reached €3.717 billion, “which corresponds to 92.74% of the value of the assets”, reflecting an increase of €51.37 million (+1.4%) compared to the figure at the end of the previous year.
The total cost of the Foundation’s activities was €133.40 million, “net of revenue generated (from publications, ticket sales, subsidies received and other sources), a figure 25.42% higher than that recorded in the previous year (€106.36 million)”.
This development is explained, it noted, by the “resources allocated to the statutory activities carried out by the Foundation, as well as administrative and operational costs”, which reached, in 2025, €115.07 million", compared to €128.34 million in 2024, a decrease of 10.32%, mainly due to the transfer of scientific research activities from the Gulbenkian Institute of Science (IGC) to the GIMM Foundation (Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine).
In 2025, pension and healthcare costs amounted to €27.67 million (higher than the figure recorded in 2024, which was €8.08 million) and amortisation and depreciation “associated with fixed, tangible and intangible assets” totalled €2.32 million (€2.61 million in 2024).
Revenue for last year, meanwhile, stood at €11.66 million (64.3% below the 2024 figure). This reduction, it explained, “is due to lower external funding for the IGC’s scientific research projects, which have been transferred to the GIMM Foundation”.
The Foundation noted that during 2025, it “continued to implement initiatives underpinning its strategic positioning and the sustainability of its mission in the medium and long term”.
It highlighted the renovation project for the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, which “entailed its closure to the public from the start of the second quarter of 2025”, with the decision having “a direct impact on operating revenue associated with ticket sales, educational activities, exhibition programming and ancillary services in the period following the closure”.
According to the Foundation, the Museum is scheduled to reopen this year, following “the modernisation of the infrastructure, the enhancement of the exhibitions showcasing the collections, and a marked improvement in the visitor experience”.
The Gulbenkian Institute for Advanced Studies has also been established, and will commence operations this year.
"This new structure reflects the strategic aim of deepening scientific research and establishing the Foundation as a leading centre for reflection and intellectual creation," it emphasised.
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation was established in 1956 by the will of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, a philanthropist of Armenian origin who lived in Lisbon from 1942 until his death in 1955.
The Foundation is headquartered in Lisbon and has branches in Paris and London, and also operates through grants awarded from Portugal to the PALOP (Portuguese-Language African countries) and Timor-Leste, as well as to countries with Armenian communities, according to its website.
It has a museum, which “houses the founder’s private collection and a collection of modern and contemporary art; an orchestra and a choir; an art library and archive; a scientific research institute; and a garden, which is a central space in the city of Lisbon, where educational activities also take place”.
It fulfils its mission through programmes that develop “pilot projects and support, through grants and subsidies, institutions and social organisations”.
ALN/AYLS // AYLS
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