America’s Governor Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) cheers Citadel founder Kenneth Griffin at the announcement of Carnegie Mellon University Miami on Thursday. | Jack Dempsey/AP Content Services for Griffin Catalyst/Associated Pres
By James Freeman | Wall Street Journal
An editorial in the Chicago Tribune laments what might have been had “Kenneth C. Griffin not become so frustrated with the state of Illinois as to move himself and much of the financial company he founded, Citadel, to Miami.” The Tribune is responding to the news that Mr. Griffin is moving a whole lot more to Florida after departing the expensive dysfunction of Illinois governance.
The Journal’s Deborah Acosta reported on Wednesday:
Hedge-fund titan Ken Griffin is donating $2 billion to start a Carnegie Mellon University campus in Miami, part of the largest-ever individual gift toward higher education.
The Pittsburgh-based university, known for its expertise in computer science, artificial intelligence and robotics, will open a 35-acre campus in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood that will focus on technology and innovation.
“The students who graduate and the tech companies that come to Miami to leverage those skills will change the very fabric of Miami for decades if not centuries to come,” Griffin said in an interview.
Citadel’s chief executive is also giving $1 billion to Carnegie Mellon’s main Pittsburgh campus. Griffin’s combined $3 billion donation is the largest single gift toward higher education from any individual, according to an announcement from Carnegie Mellon University.
The donation helps advance Griffin’s aim to establish South Florida as a leading global-business and technology hub.
Back in the Windy City, kudos to the Tribune editorial board for explaining the opportunity cost of driving away the state’s most successful people: “After all, persons who are willing to donate $3 billion to an institution of higher education are not to be found on every street corner.”
Of course New York politicians in general and the mayor of New York City in particular have also been unwelcoming and in some cases downright hostile to wealth-creators like Mr. Griffin. Leftists who enjoyed the mayor’s nasty media stunt outside Mr. Griffin’s Manhattan apartment can now reflect on whether it was worth removing the city as a possible landing spot for the largest individual gift in the history of U.S. higher education.
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