MEREDITH, NH – Clouds weren’t the only ones to rain on the graduation ceremony at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth last week. On stage, billionaire philanthropist Rob Hale surprised the graduating class of more than 1,000 people by pointing to a nearby truck containing envelopes filled with cash.
Huddled under ponchos and umbrellas at the soggy ceremony, the graduates whooped and cheered, mouths open, as Hale announced he was showering them with money. Security guards then carried the backpacks full of money onto the stage.
Hale said each student would receive $1,000. But there was one condition: they had to keep $500 and donate the rest.
Hale said the greatest joy he and his wife Karen have experienced in their lives came from the act of giving.
“We want to give you two gifts. The first is our gift to you,” Hale told the students. “The second is the gift of giving. These difficult times have increased the need to share, care and give. Our community needs you and your generosity more than ever.”
Founder and chief executive of Granite Telecommunications, Hale is estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of $5.4 billion. He owns a minority stake in the Boston Celtics.
It is the fourth year in a row that he has given a similar gift to a group of graduating students. Last year it was for students at UMass Boston, and before that it was for students at Roxbury Community College and Quincy College.
But students at UMass Dartmouth had no idea Hale would speak. Graduating students who did not attend the ceremony lost their money. Hale told students that his path to success was difficult after his previous company, Network Plus, filed for bankruptcy in 2002 during the dot-com bust.
“Have you ever met someone who lost a billion dollars before? Hale said, while joking about giving career advice to students. “I might be the biggest loser you’ve ever met, and you have to sit in the rain and listen to me.”
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