Billionaire investor Ken Griffin has suspended donations to Harvard over the school's handling of anti-Semitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Griffin, the founder of hedge fund Citadel, graduated from the Ivy League in 1989 and is one of the institution's largest donors, giving the school $300 million just last year. The Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was even renamed in his honor.
But at the MFA Network conference in Miami on Tuesday, he said he would no longer support Harvard until it “resumes its role in educating young American men and women to be leaders and problem solvers.”
Griffin, who has a net worth of $36.8 billion, expressed concern over former Harvard President Claudine Gay's testimony before Congress, which resulted in her not saying that the call for genocide against the United States was Jews on campus violated the school's rules.
He said he had told the Harvard Corporation, the Cambridge school's governing body, that his donations were suspended unless changes were made and accused the country's elite universities of producing “whiny snowflakes.”
Billionaire investor Ken Griffin has decided to suspend his donations to Harvard over the school's handling of anti-Semitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war
Griffin said he was tired of supporting Harvard until it “resumes its mission of educating young American men and women to be leaders and problem solvers.” Supporters of Palestine gather at Harvard University on October 14 to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza
“Where are we going with elite school education in America?” Griffin added. “Or will they continue to get lost in the wilderness of microaggressions and a DEI agenda that seems to have no real end goal.”
has reached out to Griffin's representatives for comment.
Griffin joins a growing list of billionaires who have stopped funding Harvard and other top schools following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
Last month, Len Blavatnik, whose family foundation has given at least $270 million to Harvard, halted donations to his alma mater until it addresses what he said is “rampant anti-Semitism on campus.”
Leslie Wexner, the former CEO of L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, also said his foundation suspended donations to Harvard after pro-Palestinian protests erupted at the school after Oct. 7.
Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer and his wife Batia also withdrew their support from Harvard in October after 31 school organizations signed a letter blaming Israel for Hamas attacks.
The couple said they were stopping donations “in protest at the shocking and insensitive response of the university's president, who failed to condemn the letter from student organizations that blamed Israel for the massacres.”
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who donated hundreds of millions to his alma matter, also paused in donations after the outbreak of war.
Harvard is in trouble over its handling of anti-Semitism on campus following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war and over plagiarism allegations against former President Gay.
Protesters gather under the statue of John Harvard to support students participating in a sit-in in University Hall organized by a student collective called Harvard Jews for Palestine
Griffin, who has a net worth of $36.8 billion, expressed concern about former Harvard President Claudine Gay's testimony before Congress
Earlier this month, the school shed new light on the ongoing investigation into plagiarism allegations against Gay, saying, among other things, that an independent body recommended a broader review after substantiating some of the complaints.
In a letter to a congressional committee, Harvard said it learned of plagiarism allegations against its first Black female president on Oct. 24 from a New York Post reporter. The school has contacted several authors accused of gay plagiarism and none have objected to their language, it said.
Gay's academic career first came into focus after she testified before Congress about anti-Semitism on campus. Gay, Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and MIT President Sally Kornbluth came under fire for their legal responses to New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who questioned whether a “call for genocide against Jews” violated the codes of conduct of colleges would be violated.
The three presidents had been called before the Republican-led House Education and Workforce Committee to respond to allegations that universities were failing to protect Jewish students amid growing fears of anti-Semitism worldwide and the consequences of it worsening Israel's war in Gaza.
Gay said it depends on the context, adding that when “speech turns into behavior, that violates our policies.” The response sparked a swift backlash from Republican and some Democratic lawmakers, as well as the White House.
The House committee announced days later that it would investigate policies and disciplinary practices at Harvard, MIT and Penn.
The company initially stood behind Gay, saying a review of her scientific work found “some instances of under-citation” but no evidence of scientific misconduct.
Plagiarism allegations continued to surface through December, and Gay resigned this month.