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A billionaire hedge fund manager has made the largest single donation to a British university in modern times.
Chris Rokos, whose estimated worth is around £2.6billion, is gifting £190million to Cambridge University to create the Rokos School of Government.
The 55-year-old is among the UK’s biggest taxpayers and is known as a bond trader, having started his career at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse before co-founding the hedge fund Bevan Howard.
Mr Rokos reportedly took home around £477million last year from his hedge fund Rokos Capital Management, which he launched in 2015.
The Oxford graduate will give £130million towards the school, plus a further endowment of up to £60million – which will be matched by Cambridge University.
The donation overtakes the £150million donated to Oxford University by the American tycoon Stephen Schwarzman, which took the title in 2019 as the biggest donation ‘since the Renaissance’.
The new school will be built on underdeveloped land given by the university in its ‘west innovation district’.
The school is set to offer PhD and masters degrees in autumn this year from temporary facilities while building continues – with a mission to prepare political leaders for domestic and international politics.
It aims to compete against Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, which opened its doors in 2010 with the help of a £75million donation from the Soviet-born billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik.
Mr Rokos, who studied mathematics at rival Oxford University, previously supported scholarship programmes at his alumnus Eton College, as well as initiatives linked to Pembroke College Oxford.
The billionaire hedge fund manager, who went to a state primary school before attending the alma mater of Prince William and Prince Harry on a scholarship, said: ‘I was fortunate to be given the opportunity of an education which transformed my life and I would like to give something back to Britain.
‘My hope is that, in time, the influence of the Rokos School of Government across the world becomes an important element of that soft power which has been a great asset to the UK.’
The vice-chancellor of Cambridge University Professor Deborah Prentice said there is a global need for ‘radical new ways of thinking and approaches to leadership’.
Professor Prentice added Cambridge is ‘uniquely positioned to drive this innovation’, which is ‘needed to respond to our rapidly changing world.’
She said: ‘Thanks to Chris’s generous support, the Rokos School of Government will become a place where leaders and governments – both current and future – together with experts from our institution generate the insights and solutions needed to respond to our rapidly changing world.’
The school will have direct access to the university’s expertise in technology, science, social science, arts and humanities. While its faculty will include established academics, including political scientists, economists, historians, engineers and statisticians.
Staff will also include experts from government and senior positions in business, finance or public service.
Financial contributions made to the school by both donors and the university itself will be overseen by a newly-formed trust. It will be managed by two people appointed by Mr Rokos and two chosen by the university.
The university has appointed pro vice-chancellor for research Professor Sir John Aston and pro vice-chancellor for university community and engagement Professor Kamal Munir.
Mr Rokos has nominated former academic and now lawyer Dr Christos Nifadopoulos and president of Cambridge’s Girton college Dr Elisabeth Kendall.
