Just in time for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Black billionaire Robert F. Smith is being honored for his HBCU generosity and leaving a positive financial legacy in the African American community.
In the midst of a commencement address this year, Robert F. Smith casually worked in a shocker. He was going to pay off the student loans of all the nearly 400 Morehouse College graduates sitting before him.
Most Americans who saw the headline had one question: “Who the heck is Robert F. Smith?”
The 57-year-old billionaire tech executive and philanthropist with an everyman name soared under the radar during much of an illustrious business career, even in Austin, where he lives and works. The founder of Vista Equity Partners and the nation’s richest African American with net worth estimated at about $6 billion, Smith has distinguished himself as a growing force in philanthropy, a role that qualifies him as a finalist for 2019 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.
Smith’s promise to Morehouse’s graduates caught the world’s attention. Student-loan debt in the United States is at an all-time high, and as a result of this debt, millennials are delaying buying homes and starting families. The student debt burden hits African American students especially hard. Nearly 85% of black bachelor’s degree recipients carry student debt, compared with 69% of white bachelor’s degree recipients, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, with each owing more than $30,000.
“I thought about what I know these 400 men will do now that they no longer have this financial burden that frankly is disproportionate to other students who are graduating and typically their jobs have disproportionate relative pay to others,” Smith said as he accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for his promise to Morehouse students. “I know they will pay that forward.”
“I thought about what I know these 400 men will do now that they no longer have this financial burden that frankly is disproportionate to other students who are graduating and typically their jobs have disproportionate relative pay to others,” Smith said as he accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for his promise to Morehouse students. “I know they will pay that forward.”
Smith magnanimous gesture spotlighted the complexity of student debt, but also inspired Smith to also help African American students obtain internships and work experiences that open doors to successful careers.
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