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Billionaire media entrepreneur John Kluge will donate $400 million to Columbia University. The donation will be used only for student financial aid, with half earmarked for undergraduates. Kluge, who attended Columbia on a scholarship and graduated in 1937, has previously said, “I’d rather by far invest in people than buildings. If I can infuse a mind to improve itself, that’ll pass on to their children, and to their children’s children."
Columbia is in the middle of a big capital campaign to raise $4 billion, and now Kluge's gift, which will be given upon his death, puts the school at the halfway mark. (Columbia's current endowment is $5 billion, which is much less than Harvard's $30+ billion.) Kluge had previously donated $110 million to the school, but this donation is considered one of the largest individual gifts ever to a university.
According to Forbes, Kluge's self-made fortune is estimated to be over $9 billion, most of his money coming after selling his media company to WorldCom; his "eclectic portfolio" now includes "restaurants (Bennigan's, Steak & Ale), medical devices, peanuts." And Columbia is still reeling from news that the executive director of undergraduate financial aid was promoting a student-loan company he sat on the board of and owned stock in.
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It would be nice if these donations were spread around to other Universities not as fortunate (or as rich) as Columbia. Share the wealth!
Since the money is going toward student financial aid, sharing the wealth is what it does. Kluge's gift will make a Columbia education affordable to many more students. By my quick estimate the undergrad portion is roughly equivalent to 200 full scholarships per year.