Ken Griffin, a longtime donor to Harvard University, said the university would be more concerned about anti-Semitism as the hedge fund billionaire lamented the “whining snowflakes” produced at the Ivy League school. He has vowed to withhold financial support from the university unless significant changes are made to policy.
“I have no interest in supporting this institution,” Griffin, a 55-year-old hedge fund billionaire who runs Citadel and Citadel Securities, said at a news conference in Miami.
Mr. Griffin, who graduated from the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school in 1989, donated $300 million to Harvard University last year alone, totaling more than $500 million.
The Florida native, who recently moved his headquarters from Chicago to Miami, has an estimated net worth of $36.8 billion. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
But he said Tuesday he would not support schools unless changes were made.
“Are America’s elite universities going back to their roots in educating America’s children and young people to be our nation’s future leaders, or are they going to tackle the microaggressions of a DEI challenge that seems to have no real end goal? “Are you going to keep wandering into the wilderness? Or just getting lost in the wilderness?” Griffin said.
When asked by the event’s host if he supports Harvard University financially, Griffin replied, “No.”
“I want to change that and I’ve made that clear to the board members,” the billionaire added.
Professor Griffin said Harvard has an obligation to “resume its role in educating America’s young men and women to be leaders, problem solvers, and tackle difficult problems.”
Until that happens, “I have no interest in supporting this institution,” he said.
The Post has reached out to Harvard University for comment.
Professor Griffin also reiterated previous statements in which he vowed not to recruit students who signed a letter in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack accusing Israel of atrocities that killed nearly 1,200 people.
Bill Ackman, another Harvard graduate and hedge fund billionaire, initially proposed denying employment opportunities to students who signed the letter.
Mr. Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, is the president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, who resigned earlier this month after being found to have plagiarized several academic papers. He was one of the leading voices calling for his ouster.
Mr. Gay’s successor, interim President Alan Garber, sparked outrage by naming Professor Derek Pensler, a fierce critic of Israel, to co-chair a presidential task force dedicated to combating anti-Semitism on campuses. .
Former Treasury Secretary and Harvard University President Larry Summers last week condemned the move, calling it “a testament to the determination and ability of Harvard University and its leadership to maintain Harvard as a place where Jews and Israelis can thrive.” I lost confidence.”
Griffin, whose name is attached to the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard’s financial aid office, is Harvard’s largest donor, suspending support for his alma mater since Oct. 7.
Leonard V. Blavatnik, a Harvard Business School alumnus and billionaire philanthropist who gave a record $200 million gift to Harvard Medical School in 2018, will also withhold additional financial support. said.
Mark Zuckerberg, a former Harvard University student who has remained relatively quiet about the rebels at his alma mater, is a member of the Harvard Oversight Committee, the powerful committee that oversees Harvard University, and is a member of the Silicon Valley Board of Supervisors. He endorsed Sam Lessin, a Valley mogul and former Facebook executive.
Mr. Lessin called for the resignation of Penny Pritzker, the head of Harvard’s smaller and more powerful of its two boards of governors.
Mr. Ackman was personally trying to assemble candidates for the Board of Supervisors.
