Bloomberg Talks · Sep 30, 2026
With Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel · Farnam Jahanian, President of Carnegie Mellon University
Ken Griffin is giving Carnegie Mellon University $3 billion, the largest single gift committed to a US university: $2 billion to build a new campus in Miami and $1 billion for the main campus in Pittsburgh.
Most of the recent argument about American universities has been over what they are doing wrong. Griffin said the better approach is to copy the schools that are getting it right, and he pointed to Carnegie Mellon's ranking on graduates' return on investment and to the robotics companies it has seeded in Pittsburgh.
"We need to learn from our success stories and play to our success stories rather than whine about the universities that aren't delivering value for their students." — Ken Griffin
Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, on Bloomberg Talks, made a gift the interviewer said doubles his total giving, and Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian joined him in Pittsburgh to explain how the Miami campus will be organized around problems rather than academic departments.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 7 moments that matter.
Key Takeaways
Griffin's $3B gift is the largest single gift committed to a US university, with $2B for a Miami campus and $1B for Pittsburgh
The Miami campus will not be organized around departments, Jahanian said, but around problems such as health, national security, cybersecurity and energy
Griffin wants other universities to copy what works rather than complain about what does not
U.S. News ranks Carnegie Mellon third in the country on return on investment, he said
Pittsburgh has about 100 robotics companies, which Griffin credits to Carnegie Mellon, and he expects CMU Miami to do the same for Miami
Griffin says campuses "lost the narrative" about what higher education is for, and that the pendulum is moving back toward the center
Carnegie Mellon's computer science school will be named for Griffin
1. An Investment in Excellence
The host asked Griffin how he chose Carnegie Mellon for the largest gift of his life, one that doubles his total giving.
Griffin called the gift an investment, not a donation
"So you picked the right choice of words. This is an investment in excellence." — Ken Griffin
He said Carnegie Mellon leads the nation in computer science, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity and has a robotics program known worldwide.
"This is a university that represents the future of our country." — Ken Griffin
