Topline
Ken Griffin pledged to donate a record $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University, part of which will be used to fund the university’s new campus in Miami, amid a push by the hedge fund billionaire to transform Miami, the site of his company Citadel’s planned new headquarters, into a global business and innovation hub.
Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of hedge fund Citadel, speaks during the 29th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the university said $2 billion of Griffin’s gift will “support the launch” of its future Miami campus.
The remaining $1 billion will support Carnegie Mellon’s existing Pittsburgh campus, “split evenly” between the university’s highest priorities and a $500 million investment in its “top-ranked School of Computer Science,” which will be renamed the “Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science.”
The university noted that Griffin’s pledge of $3 billion is both the “largest-ever gift by an individual in the history of higher education” and also the billionaire’s largest-ever donation.
The Miami campus will be a 35-acre site in the city’s Wynwood neighborhood, with construction beginning in 2027 and student enrollment starting in 2028.
In a letter to the university’s members, Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian said Griffin will also join the university’s Board of Trustees.
crucial quote
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Griffin said: “Carnegie Mellon University has made profound contributions to America’s preeminence in science, engineering, technology, and the arts and humanities…The opportunity to bring Carnegie Mellon to Miami places our city at the heart of humanistic and scientific advancement and amplifies the University’s international reach and impact.”
forbes valuation
According to Forbes’ estimates, the Citadel founder and CEO’s current net worth is $57.6 billion, making him the world’s 33rd-richest person. Griffin also appeared on this year’s Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, where he ranked number 30.
Tangent
Griffin’s $3 billion pledge overtakes the $2 billion gift Billionaire Nike co-Founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, gave to the Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute last year. At the time, the institute said Knight’s donation would speed up diagnostics, give patients access to clinical trials and improve patient support. Before that, Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion donation to Johns Hopkins held the record for the largest individual gift made to an educational institution.
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