Ken Griffin Gives University Of Chicago $125 Million
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The richest person in Illinois has pledged to give the University of Chicago's economics department a $125 million gift.
The university has announced that Citadel hedge fund founder Kenneth Griffin is giving the university what amounts to its second-biggest gift ever: $125 million for the economics department, which has spawned 29 Nobel Prize winners.
#UChicago announces $125 million gift from Kenneth C Griffin Charitable Fund: https://t.co/16N9BkU5mP
— The University of Chicago (@UChicago) November 1, 2017
With the gift, the university said the department will now be known as the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics.
Griffin's gift will go toward scholarships, stipends, and research, among other things.
According to Forbes, Griffin is the richest person in the state, and the 166th wealthiest in the world, with a net worth of about $8 billion.
The largest gift ever given to the university was a $300 million gift from financier David Booth to the business school.