Ken Griffin Gives $3B to Carnegie Mellon to Launch 35-Acre Miami Campus
The billionaire’s record donation includes $2 billion for a tech- and AI-focused campus in Miami’s Wynwood
By Greg Cornfield September 30, 2026 12:35 pm
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Billionaire Ken Griffin is making a $3 billion donation to Carnegie Mellon University, including $2 billion to build a major new campus in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.
It’s the largest single donation to higher education by one person, according to an announcement from Carnegie Mellon. Griffin will also give $1 billion to the university’s Pittsburgh campus, while joining its board of trustees.
The Miami campus will span 35 acres and focus on computer science, artificial intelligence, robotics and other tech sectors. Carnegie Mellon expects the campus to eventually support more than 3,500 undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. students, nearly 300 faculty members and more than 600 staff, the announcement said.
Construction is scheduled to begin next year, with the first students expected in 2028. The university acquired the site from Miami developer Moishe Mana for an undisclosed price, though it has not disclosed who will ultimately hold title to the property.
The project represents Carnegie Mellon’s largest expansion beyond its Pittsburgh base. The university currently operates smaller satellite campuses in New York City, Mountain View, Calif., and Qatar.
The Miami program will focus on areas including human health, national security, energy and climate resilience, advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation, which will be integrated with AI, computing and machine learning.
“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.
The campus also deepens Griffin’s investment in Wynwood. He previously partnered with Goldman Properties to acquire a nearby office tower from Sterling Bay for $180 million. That building houses MIAX Sapphire’s 38,400-square-foot options trading floor, along with PwC, Gensler and Sony Music.
Griffin has now donated $2.4 billion in South Florida and more than $5.7 billion overall, according to the announcement. The new campus also follows Stephen Ross’s push to establish Vanderbilt University’s planned West Palm Beach graduate campus, further expanding South Florida’s higher education and technology ecosystem.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
