Billionaire Robert F Smith Makes Another Pledge To Pay Off Student Loans This Time To The Parents Of Morehouse College Class Of 2019

The gift cost Smith $35 million. He is making the donation to Morehouse’s new Student Success Program, which will then pay off all federal student loans borrowed by the 400 Morehouse students who graduated in May, most of whom are young African American men, as well as loans owed by their parents and legal guardians. Morehouse College President David A. Thomas released the following statement about Smith’s generosity. Smith is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Austin, Texas-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. Vista deals in the not-so-sexy category of enterprise software, which might be why he’s flown largely under the radar. In 2000, Smith launched Vista Equity Partners and in the 19 years since then, Vista has grown to nearly $16 billion in assets and generated insane returns for its investors. Vista has delivered a whopping 31 percent average annual rate of return to its investors since 2000. Smith joined the Giving Pledge in 2018. He has a net worth of $5 billion. The Student Success Program doesn’t just pay off the education debt of the class of 2019 and their parents and guardians, but it encourages alumni of Morehouse and other HBCUs to seek and receive gifts from alumni and other supporters to aid in offsetting student loan debt and giving students the freedom to pursue their dreams, the money to invest in the economic growth and success of their families, and the time to give back to their communities in meaningful ways.