<P> Ellis was a Greek scholar and mathematician who at one time was a University of Illinois professor of engineering despite having no engineering degree . He eventually earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois prior to designing the Golden Gate Bridge and spent the last twelve years of his career as a professor at Purdue University . He became an expert in structural design, writing the standard textbook of the time . Ellis did much of the technical and theoretical work that built the bridge, but he received none of the credit in his lifetime . In November 1931, Strauss fired Ellis and replaced him with a former subordinate, Clifford Paine, ostensibly for wasting too much money sending telegrams back and forth to Moisseiff . Ellis, obsessed with the project and unable to find work elsewhere during the Depression, continued working 70 hours per week on an unpaid basis, eventually turning in ten volumes of hand calculations . </P> <P> With an eye toward self - promotion and posterity, Strauss downplayed the contributions of his collaborators who, despite receiving little recognition or compensation, are largely responsible for the final form of the bridge . He succeeded in having himself credited as the person most responsible for the design and vision of the bridge . Only much later were the contributions of the others on the design team properly appreciated . In May 2007, the Golden Gate Bridge District issued a formal report on 70 years of stewardship of the famous bridge and decided to give Ellis major credit for the design of the bridge . </P> <P> The Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District, authorized by an act of the California Legislature, was incorporated in 1928 as the official entity to design, construct, and finance the Golden Gate Bridge . However, after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the District was unable to raise the construction funds, so it lobbied for a $30 million bond measure . The bonds were approved in November 1930, by votes in the counties affected by the bridge . The construction budget at the time of approval was $27 million . However, the District was unable to sell the bonds until 1932, when Amadeo Giannini, the founder of San Francisco--based Bank of America, agreed on behalf of his bank to buy the entire issue in order to help the local economy . </P> <P> Construction began on January 5, 1933 . The project cost more than $35 million, ($493 million in 2016 dollars) completing ahead of schedule and $1.3 million under budget . The Golden Gate Bridge construction project was carried out by the McClintic - Marshall Construction Co., a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation founded by Howard H. McClintic and Charles D. Marshall, both of Lehigh University . </P>

Who paid to build the golden gate bridge