Tech investor Robert F. Smith tells students to ‘pay it forward’
About 400 seniors at Morehouse College got an unexpected graduation gift Sunday — the erasure of their student-loan debt.
Billionaire tech investor Robert F. Smith — the founder and chief executive of Vista Equity Partners — dropped that bombshell while addressing students during commencement ceremonies Sunday at the all-male, historically black college in Atlanta.
The announcement stunned students and administrators alike, and drew a massive cheer from the crowd.
The pledge is estimated to be worth $40 million, the largest single gift in school history, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
That’s on top of a previously announced $1.5 million donation from Smith, who was given an honorary doctorate Sunday.