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But his portfolio resembled a conglomerate's. A baron of the early computer industry, he helped found the wor... ld's largest chipmaker, Intel. He came up with the cash to save a fledgling magazine called Rolling Stone and bankrolled movies. And he used his wealth to build notable art collections that turned the Los Angeles County Museum of Art into a destination for fans of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Mr. Palevsky, 85, died of a heart ailment May 5 at his home in Beverly Hills.

He gained prominence in the 1960s when he turned Scientific Data Systems, a builder of mainframe computers, into a hugely lucrative business that he sold to Xerox in 1969 for $1 billion. He went on to serve as a director and chairman of Xerox's executive committee before becoming a founder and director of Intel.

He left the corporate world in the 1970s to produce movies, support Rolling Stone and delve into politics.

He was an early George McGovern supporter during his ill-fated 1972 presidential campaign, then ran Bradley's successful 1973 bid for mayor. He was also a major backer of Robert F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter during their presidential bids and of various campaigns of former California governor Gray Davis. And, with television producer Norman Lear, he was a member of the "Malibu Mafia," a loose alliance of wealthy Los Angeles-area Democrats who used their influence to promote liberal causes and candidates.

In later years, Mr. Palevsky soured on politics and concentrated more on art. He built important collections of Arts and Crafts movement furniture and Japanese woodblock prints, which have been featured in shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

He made a dramatic reentry into politics in 2000 when he wrote a $1 million check to the campaign finance reform initiative co-authored by Ron Unz, a Silicon Valley tycoon.

The contribution -- the largest political donation Mr. Palevsky had ever made -- shocked state Democratic leaders, who opposed the ultimately unsuccessful measure. But Palevsky, saying that he was sickened by the "corruption of the electoral process," said he made the contribution "in hopes that I will never again legally be allowed to write huge checks to California political candidates."

Mr. Palevsky got his first taste of politics in the 1960s and jumped on the McGovern bandwagon before the South Dakota senator's stunning upset win in the Wisconsin primary. "Max was his most important early contributor," said Frank Mankiewicz, McGovern's campaign director.

According to "The Power and the Glitter," a 1990 book about the interplay between Hollywood and Washington by former Los Angeles Times political writer Ronald Brownstein, Mr. Palevsky donated more than $319,000, which financed McGovern's direct-mail operation. He also raised money from others, represented McGovern at a meeting with Viet Cong negotiators in Paris and advised him on issues.

He abruptly left McGovern's side during the 1972 Democratic convention in Miami when he realized that his advice, particularly about the organization of the campaign, was being ignored.