Billionaire George Roberts donates $140 million to Claremont McKenna College

By Alex Wittenberg | Bloomberg

George Roberts, the billionaire co-founder of KKR & Co., is giving $140 million to his alma mater Claremont McKenna College, which the school will use to “expand and fully develop the eastern half of the CMC campus.”

The donation by Roberts, who graduated in 1966, will help the liberal arts college develop athletic facilities and campus buildings, Claremont McKenna said Friday in a statement. It brings total fundraising for the school’s recent campaign to $916 million.

“I hope this gift enables CMC to ensure its place as the college for the future and provides the education and experience to help deserving young people contribute and compete in the world of the future,” Roberts said in the statement.

Claremont McKenna will build eight athletic and practice fields, an aquatics center, three pedestrian malls, academic buildings and other developments, the school said. The gift will also fund the expansion of student apartments.

Roberts, 78, co-founded KKR with his cousin Henry Kravis and Jerome Kohlberg in 1976. Roberts serves as executive co-chairman of the private equity firm, which oversees almost $500 billion in assets. He has a net worth of $10.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Roberts gave $50 million to the college in 2012 for the Roberts Pavilion, a three-floor athletic facility, and earlier helped fund two academic buildings, both of which bear his name. Kravis, who graduated from Claremont McKenna a year after Roberts, donated $75 million to the college in 2008 through his and his wife’s foundation.