No university in the history of US education has received such a donation until Citadel founder Ken Griffin pledged an unprecedented $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University. Part of the money will go towards making a new campus in Miami where Griffin stays and the rest will be for the development of the university campus in Pittsburgh.“Griffin’s $3 billion gift will consist of $1 billion to support CMU’s Pittsburgh campus, split evenly between flexible support for 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. An additional $2 billion will support the launch of CMU Miami,” the university announced.The pledge is also 57-year-old Griffin’s largest donation ever.The Miami campus will support more than 3,500 undergraduate, master’s and PhD students, nearly 300 faculty and more than 600 staff members, with construction slated to begin in 2027.“Throughout our history, CMU has anticipated moments of profound technological change and responded with new ways of thinking and solving problems,” university president Farnam Jahanian said in a statement. “Artificial intelligence represents one of the defining intellectual developments of our time, and it demands that we rethink how we educate students, conduct research and partner with others.”Griffin will also become a member of Carnegie Mellon’s board of trustees. The board already includes hedge fund billionaire David Tepper, a Carnegie Mellon graduate and donor.
Who is Ken Griffin ? What is his net worth?
Citadel is a Miami-based hedge fund that was established in 1990 by Griffin after he graduated from Harvard University with a BA degree in economics. According to Forbes, Griffin has an approximate net worth of $57.6 billion and is listed as the 33rd richest person in the world. Citadel lists an investment capital of $76 billion and says it is the most profitable hedge fund of all time.Griffin moved Citadel from Chicago to Miami in 2022.Earlier this year, Griffin expressed his displeasure with New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani as Mamdani posted a video that revealed where Griffin lived during his campaign. “You know, he seems to have forgotten that the CEO of another American company was assassinated just blocks from where I live in New York. And to put any citizen in harm’s way is just inappropriate for one of our political leaders,” Griffin said.
