‘Ayn Rand’s Property After Peikoff?’

Dr. Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand’s heir and founder of the Institute, has requested that we make available the following letter (updated on August 2, 2022). To view the original signed letter, please visit his website.

Ayn Rand’s Property After Peikoff?

July 12, 2022

For obvious reasons, I have been asked this question frequently in recent years. By far the most important property Ayn Rand left me is the copyrights to her books, articles, and lectures. Ayn Rand told me that, when the time came, I should make my personal bequests, and then bequeath the rest of her Estate to the individual(s) and/or group(s) whom I regard as thorough and consistent exponents of Objectivism.

To my daughter, Kira Beilis, I have willed “We the Living,” “The Fountainhead,” and “Atlas Shrugged.” All the other Ayn Rand (and Leonard Peikoff) material, including copyrights, I have bequeathed to the Ayn Rand Institute. In both these cases, I have formulated conditions to serve as guides to the proper management of these copyrights.

I have chosen ARI because, in my judgment, it is the only organization that fosters Objectivism in the way that Ayn Rand sought. ARI is by far the best option — and it is the only such group that I myself endorse.

Needless to say, I wish all Objectivists the very best for the future. And by the way, this announcement has nothing to do with any disease or crisis in my life. It’s just that I’m now 88. Even so, I expect that I will still be around for a while.

Leonard Peikoff