Three months after Steve Ballmer paid $2 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers, he and his wife, Connie, are on another spending spree — this time at their alma maters.
Today, the couple announced a $50 million gift to the University of Oregon and an undisclosed donation to double the size of Harvard's computer science department.
The gift to Harvard will allow the school to expand its computer science faculty from 24 to about 35. Ballmer, who retired as CEO of
"I think Harvard's got a unique opportunity in computer science. It's got the Harvard student body — the most fantastic student body in the world! It needs to grow," Ballmer said in a video accompanying the announcement.
"Your future's so bright, you gotta wear shades," he added.
Half of the gift to the University of Oregon, which Connie graduated from in 1984, will fund scholarships for up to 500 financially disadvantaged students each year. Another $20 million will fund a multidisciplinary research initiative on obesity prevention. The final $5 million will go toward a branding effort expected to launch in January. The couple's donation is the first major gift to the school since it announced a campaign to raise $2 billion last month.
Ballmer became Microsoft's largest individual shareholder in April. FORBES estimates that his fortune is currently worth $23.4 billion.
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