John Paulson gives Hebrew University $250 million, the largest gift in its history

Investor John Paulson announced a $250 million gift to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at its Board of Governors gala on October 17, the university said. It is the largest donation in the university's history. In recognition, the historic Mount Scopus campus will be named The Alina and John Paulson Campus, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem.

What the gift pays for

The university listed four priorities: a new Faculty of Engineering, an expansion of its medical and biomedical enterprise, including what it called an emerging new model for medical education, research on trauma and post-trauma recovery, and new frameworks for public impact. The announcement did not say how the money will be divided among them, when it will be paid, or whether any of it is a pledge.

"Given its quality and productivity, I can think of no more deserving university for philanthropic support than Hebrew University," said Paulson, founder and chairman of the Paulson Family Foundation, in the announcement. "This gift is also meant to show support and international solidarity with Israel." Prof. Tamir Sheafer, the university's president, said the gift "empowers us to recruit world-class faculty, support exceptional students, equip cutting-edge laboratories, and transform bold ideas into life-changing breakthroughs."

A donor who has given there before

The university said the new gift brings Paulson's total support to $296 million. The Paulson Family Foundation earlier paid for the Paulson Bar-El Building for Computer Science & Engineering and the John Paulson Building for Electrical Engineering on the Edmond J. Safra Campus, through gifts of $27 million in 2023 and $19 million in 2026, eJewishPhilanthropy reported. Paulson's largest gift remains $400 million to Harvard in 2015 for its School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which bears his name, and he gave $100 million to the Central Park Conservancy in 2012, the outlet said.

eJewishPhilanthropy called the gift the third-largest individual donation to an Israeli university, after a $400 million bequest to Ben-Gurion University and a $260 million anonymous gift to Bar-Ilan University.

What other institutions can learn

In our view, the announcement follows a familiar pattern for very large gifts: a naming, a list of priorities and no breakdown. Paulson's own statement also made a value argument, noting that an education at Hebrew University costs much less than at a comparable U.S. university, so part of the pitch was what a dollar buys. Institutions courting gifts this size can be ready to make that case with numbers, and to publish how the money is split once it is decided, as Carnegie Mellon did in setting out what Ken Griffin's $3 billion gift pays for.