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These Financial Elites Donated Over $8 Billion to American Universities

David Beren

Published: October 15, 2024 2:30 pm

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• Billionaires love to donate to their alma mater. 
• Some of the largest donations are made anonymously. 
• Some donations go toward tuition, while others go to research. 
• Also: 2 Dividend Legends to Hold Forever

For most people, giving a few dollars a year to their alma mater makes them feel good enough. However, billionaires are not the majority of people, so it should be no surprise that some of their donations are often in the hundreds of millions if not more. While a few donors prefer to remain anonymous, some of the biggest names in the business world have generously given to universities. Best of all, some of these gifts are mandated to be used explicitly for tuition, which is excellent news for future students. 

10. Jim and Marilyn Simons

Hedge fund billionaires Jim and Marilyn Simons announced a $500 million donation to the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2023. Jim previously chaired the school’s math department before launching his hedge fund. The gift will support student scholarships, research, and clinical care. 

9. Phil and Penny Knight

The founder of Nike shoes, Phil Knight, and his wife, Penny, announced a 2015 donation of $500 million to Oregon Health and Science University. The donation for a cancer institute was contingent on the school raising the same amount of money in two years, which they achieved in 22 months. 

8. Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan

Mark Zuckerberg, the famous founder of Facebook, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, donated $519 million to Harvard University in 2021. Spread over 15 years, the money created the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence. 

7. Anonymous

Western Michigan University received $550 million from an anonymous donor in 2021. The largest gift ever made to a public university, the donors asked for $300 million to go to the school of medicine, $200 million to the university, and the remaining $50 million to athletics programs. 

6. Gordon and Betty Moore

Pledged in 2001, Intel co-founder and his wife Gordon and Betty Moore promised $600 million to the California Institute of Technology. The money funded the Center for Molecular Medicine and Tectonics University and other educational and scientific programs. 

5. Florence and Herbert Irving

Announced in 2017, food distribution scion Florence and Herberg Irving of Sysco Corp. pledged $725 million to Columbia University. The money will be used for advanced cancer research and clinical programs. 

4. Stewart and Lynda Resnick

In 2022, farming billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick donated $750 million to the California Institute of Technology. Over the next several years, CalTech has pledged to use the money to research environmental sustainability in solar energy, biofuels, and biosphere engineering. 

3. Anonymous

Preferring to live anonymously, the third largest financial gift was a $1 billion donation sent to McPherson College in 2023. With this donation, at least $500 million will be used to fund academic programs and help offset tuition costs for the small liberal arts college. 

2. John and Ann Doerr

In 2022, John and Ann Doerr provided Stanford University with the second-largest financial gift ever given to a university. Totaling $1.1 billion, Stanford announced the funds would go toward the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, which will focus on “finding technology and policy solutions for global climate changes.” 

1. Michael Bloomberg

Announced in 2018, Michael Bloomberg, co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., donated over $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University. The school indicated that every bit of the donation would go exclusively toward financial aid, so no student would be denied the opportunity to attend based on a “family’s bank account.”