Ronald O. Perelman Pledges $100 Million Toward Manhattanville

Ronald O. Perelman, Chairman and CEO of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. and a member of the School’s Board of Overseers, has pledged a landmark gift of $100 million to Columbia Business School. It joins Class of 1969 alumnus Henry R. Kravis’s $100 million contribution as the largest in the School’s history.

Like Kravis’s gift, this donation will be used to support the construction of new Columbia Business School facilities in Manhattanville, just north of the University’s Morningside Campus. In recognition of Perelman’s generosity, one of the School’s two new buildings will be named the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Business Innovation.

The new buildings, designed by renowned New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, will reflect the fast-paced, high-tech, and highly social character of business in the 21st century. The facilities will encompass more than 450,000 square feet and will offer multifunctional spaces that foster a sense of community — spaces where students, faculty members, alumni, and practitioners can gather to exchange ideas.

“Ronald O. Perelman has long valued and supported business education and innovation in New York City,” said Columbia Business School Dean Glenn Hubbard. “We are extremely grateful for his vision and generosity, and this gift will allow us to reach a new phase in the School’s expansion into Manhattanville. We are building more than facilities: we are enabling the greatest business minds of our time to work together in a forward-looking, collaborative space that will spur the ideas that will shape business for decades to come.”

“Columbia Business School has its finger on the pulse of the changing nature of business education,” said Perelman. “The School’s commitment to developing transformative business thinkers is unparalleled, and I am pleased to pledge this gift to help them prepare the next generation of global business leaders.”

Perelman has been a longtime member of the Columbia Business School community, including serving on the Board of Overseers since 1994. He has previously provided generous financial support to such School initiatives as The Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy and the Annual Dinner.

On May 6, Perelman will be honored with the Distinguished Leadership in Business award at the School’s Annual Dinner, a gala fundraiser held each spring.