Ken Griffin donates $3B for Carnegie Mellon University to open a new Miami campus
Billionaire hedge funder Ken Griffin on Wednesday revealed a $3 billion donation for Carnegie Mellon University to open a new campus in Miami — a surprise bid to turbocharge the technology industry in Florida.It’s the largest-ever donation to an American higher education institution, and a snub to Harvard University – sixfold the $500 million Griffin gave to his alma mater over the years before ending his donations over its weak handling of antisemitism.Griffin said he was drawn to Carnegie Mellon’s ability to attract top science and tech talent, as the university is home to the world’s first robotics institute and the first computer science college in the nation, according to a press release detailing the investment.His gift includes $2 billion to support the launch of a 35-acre campus in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, to start enrolling students in 2028.Another $1 billion will go toward Carnegie Mellon’s main Pittsburgh campus.The record contribution comes four years after the Citadel and Citadel Securities founder – worth more than $57 billion, per Forbes – moved his home and his company’s headquarters to Miami from Chicago after complaining about rampant crime.
Griffin has also blasted blue cities’ high taxes, sparring with NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani.He has been trying to mold the Sunshine State into a business hub to rival New York City.The Carnegie Mellon donation – which includes the value of real estate he recently purchased in Wynwood and will donate for the new campus – brings his total contributions in the area to $2.4 billion, according to the Financial Times.“This will be in some sense the East Coast answer to what happens in Silicon Valley,” Griffin told the outlet.
“It’s about making sure that the students who come here to Carnegie Mellon not only have an extraordinary educational experience in Miami, but this is what they learn to call home.”Steve Fulop, president and CEO of the pro-business group Partnership for N...