Billionaire Robert F. Smith Pledges $40 million College Debt

On Sunday morning, black billionaire Robert F. Smith announced to the Moorehouse graduating class of 2019 that he would pay the student loan debt of the entire graduating class.

The gift is worth an estimated $40 million, which will be paid by his family through a grant. The video and announcement have gone viral and many applaud him for working to tackle an issue that is central in the black community.

It is estimated that 50% of black students who take out loans for college are defaulting in the first ten years. This has a huge impact on wealth building in our community because young people are unable to buy houses, invest or start businesses because of the weight of this debt.

The billionaire pledged an additional $1.5 million to Moorehouse College. Morehouse College is an all-male historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia.

“I know my class will make sure they pay this forward…and let’s make sure every class has the same opportunity going forward because we are enough to take care of our own community.”

Robert F. Smith during Commencement at Moorehouse College

Robert F. Smith, who has an estimated net worth of about $5 billion and he chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity group he founded in 2000 that specializes in investing in software companies. Vista currently managing about $46 billion in investments with a portfolio of more than 50 software companies that employ over 60,000 people around the world.