Ibrahim Gardner
In 2019, Robert F. Smith, the billionaire founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, pledged to pay off the student loans of Morehouse College's graduating class of 2019. Smith's pledge, amounting to \$34 million, was intended to provide financial freedom to nearly 400 students and their families, allowing them to pursue their career goals without the burden of debt. While Smith's generosity was applauded, he later faced scrutiny for potential tax crimes related to the use of offshore entities and trusts. Despite this, Smith's gift continues to positively impact the lives of the Morehouse College graduates, empowering them to take risks and pursue their aspirations.
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Robert F. Smith paid off the student loans of Morehouse College's 2019 graduating class
In 2019, Robert F. Smith, a billionaire philanthropist, paid off the student loans of Morehouse College's graduating class of that year. Smith is the founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, an investment firm focused on software, data, and technology. He is also the wealthiest Black person in America, according to Forbes.
Smith's pledge to pay off the student loans of the approximately 400 students in the 2019 graduating class of Morehouse College amounted to $34 million. This gift was praised as a "liberation gift" by Morehouse College President David A. Thomas, as it allowed the graduates to start their careers without the burden of debt.
Smith's generosity highlighted the issue of student debt, particularly at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), where students graduate with a median debt of $29,000, which is 32% higher than their peers from other institutions. Smith has recognized this disparity and has committed to reducing student debt at HBCUs.
Following his pledge to pay off the student loans of the 2019 graduating class, Smith expanded his plan to cover the debts accrued by the family members of those Morehouse graduates. This act of philanthropy has positively impacted the lives of the graduates and their families, providing them with financial freedom and new opportunities.
While Smith's gift was transformative, it was also a band-aid solution to the larger issue of student debt in the United States, which totals $1.6 trillion. To address this issue at scale, systemic changes and sustainable solutions are necessary.
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Smith's pledge totalled $34 million
Robert F. Smith, the billionaire founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, pledged to pay off the student loans of Morehouse College's 2019 graduating class. Smith's pledge totalled $34 million and covered nearly 400 students who graduated that spring from Morehouse College.
Smith's pledge was announced during his commencement speech to the graduating class. In his speech, Smith encouraged the graduates to take his gift and pay it forward:
> On behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we're going to put a little fuel in your bus. This is the challenge to you, alumni. This is my class — 2019. And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans.
Smith's pledge was praised as a "liberation gift" by Morehouse College President David A. Thomas, who hoped that graduates would use their newfound financial freedom to pursue their career goals and serve the community.
While Smith's pledge was a generous gesture, it was also a band-aid solution to the country's $1.6 trillion student debt problem. According to Keith B. Shoates, vice president of Vista Equity Partners, while Smith's gift was transformational, it was a one-time gesture for a single institution and class of students.
It is worth noting that Smith has faced legal troubles related to tax evasion charges. He admitted to an illegal scheme to conceal income and evade taxes using offshore entities, trusts, and bank accounts. Despite this, Smith has been recognised for his philanthropic efforts, receiving honours such as the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and being named one of TIME's 100 most influential people.
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Smith is the wealthiest Black person in America
Robert F. Smith, the CEO of Vista Equity Partners, pledged to pay off the student loans of the entire graduating class of 2019 at Morehouse College. This pledge gift amounted to $34 million and covered the debts accrued by the graduates' family members as well. Smith is also trying to implement income-based financing at HBCUs to help alleviate college debt.
Robert F. Smith is the second richest Black person in America as of 2024, with an estimated net worth of $10.8 billion. However, according to a 2025 ranking, Smith is an American investor with a net worth of $12 billion, making him the world's wealthiest Black person. Smith's wealth comes from his founding of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm with about $100 billion in assets.
In 2024, IT entrepreneur David Steward was the wealthiest Black person in America, with an estimated net worth of $11.4 billion. Steward grew up in the segregated South and purchased his first business, an auditing company, in 1983. He is the majority owner of World Wide Technology, which he co-founded in 1990.
As of 2024, there were four Black billionaires on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest people in America. The collective net worth of these four individuals was $31.3 billion, a fraction of the net worth of the world's wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, estimated at $225.4 billion.
Smith's philanthropy extends beyond Morehouse College, reaching local communities and boardrooms. He has been honoured with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and was recognised by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people. He is the first African American to become Chairman of Carnegie Hall and has been Chairman of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights since 2013.
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Smith is the founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners
Robert F. Smith is a philanthropist, engineer, business leader, and investor in transformative enterprise software companies. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm with over $65 billion in assets under management as of 2020. Smith's commitment to uplifting others through innovative and expansive philanthropic giving has been recognised through numerous awards and honours.
Smith was born in 1962 in a middle-class neighbourhood in Denver, Colorado. His parents, both school teachers with doctorates in education, instilled in him the value of education and the importance of community upliftment. Smith's passion for technology and engineering began during his high school years, and he secured a coveted internship at Bell Labs while still in high school. He went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1985 and later an MBA in finance and marketing from Columbia Business School in 1994.
Smith's business career started at Goodyear Tire and Rubber and Kraft General Foods. In the 1990s, he was approached by businessman Robert T. Brockman about creating a private equity fund, which eventually led to the founding of Vista Equity Partners. Smith's leadership at Vista has been characterised by his direction of the company's investment strategy and decisions, governance, and investor relations. He serves on various committees within the firm, including the Investment Committees for Vista's Flagship, Foundation, Endeavor, and Perennial Funds, as well as the Executive Committee and the Private Equity Management Committee.
In addition to his work at Vista, Smith is the founding director and president of the Fund II Foundation, which provides grants to support human rights, environmental conservation, music education, and other critical initiatives. Through the Fund II Foundation, Smith has made significant contributions to educational institutions, including Morehouse College, Cornell University, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He has also been recognised for his commitment to expanding access to opportunities, particularly for Black students, through initiatives like the Student Freedom Initiative (SFI), which offers income-contingent financing alternatives to students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
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Smith admitted to an illegal scheme to conceal income and evade taxes
Robert F. Smith, the billionaire philanthropist who paid off the student loans of the 2019 graduating class of Morehouse College, has admitted to his involvement in an illegal scheme to conceal income and evade taxes. Smith, the Chairman and CEO of a San Francisco-based private equity company, Vista Equity Partners, entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice in 2020.
According to the agreement, Smith formed the Excelsior Trust in Belize and a shell company, Flash Holdings, in Nevis in 2000. He used third parties to conceal his beneficial ownership and control of these entities. In reality, Smith controlled both offshore structures and made all substantive decisions regarding their operations. He used the Excelsior Trust to conceal his ownership of Flash Holdings and, further, used Flash Holdings to hide his interest in private equity investments.
Smith admits that he formed these foreign entities to avoid paying U.S. taxes. He used the Excelsior Trust and Flash Holdings and their associated foreign bank accounts in the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland to hide income earned and distributed to Flash Holdings from private equity funds. As a result of this scheme, Smith did not report over $200 million of partnership income. He also used millions of this unreported income for personal real estate acquisitions and improvements. For example, in 2005, he used $2.5 million in untaxed funds to purchase and renovate a vacation home in Sonoma, California. In 2010, he used untaxed funds to purchase two ski properties and a piece of commercial property in France. In 2011 and 2012, he used approximately $13 million of untaxed funds to build and improve a residence in Colorado and to fund charitable activities.
Under the terms of the non-prosecution agreement, Smith has agreed to cooperate with the Department of Justice in ongoing investigations. He will pay approximately $56 million in taxes and penalties stemming from the unreported income and an additional $82 million in penalties for concealing his offshore bank accounts. He has also agreed to abandon $182 million in charitable contribution deductions.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Robert F. Smith paid off the student loans of the entire Morehouse College class of 2019.
Robert F. Smith paid \$34 million to settle the loan debt for nearly 400 students who graduated from Morehouse College in 2019.
Robert F. Smith is an avid supporter of Morehouse College and is passionate about education. In his commencement speech, Smith said, "On behalf of the eight generations of my family who have been in this country, we're going to put a little fuel in your bus." He encouraged graduates to pay it forward and take control of their student loans.
