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If your reaction upon seeing the headline above was “WHO?” then it is fair to say, is it not, that that the mainstream news media has not sufficiently publicized the news made by Smith of late to permeate your consciousness. After you have read about him, it would be prudent to ponder why this might be.

The reason Smith is an Ethics Hero is this: He was the  Morehouse College  class of 2019 Commencement speaker, and after receiving his honorary degree, announced that he would pay off the entire class’s student debt.

The gift to the all-male, “historically black” college in Atlanta appears to to be worth about $40 million, and will affect nearly 400 students. It is the  largest individual donation to a historically black college or university. [ Not to inject a sour note, but if previously racially exclusive white colleges cannot continue their discriminatory ways by designating themselves “historically white colleges,” then the “historically black college” dodge to encourage and justify racial discrimination in both admissions and institutional marketing ought to be retired permanently. The so-designated colleges now have a collective student body that is about 22% white. ]

Smith, 56, got his BA at Cornell University and a master of business degree from Columbia University. He’s the founder of the Austin, Texas-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners with an estimated worth of about $5 billion. No, he is not among the richest billionaires; for example, Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos is worth for than 30 times that.  George Lucas is wealthier. Actress Ellen Barkin—you remember her, don’t you? “Diner”? She’s worth more than ten times more than Robert Smith, who  is the first African-American to sign the Giving Pledge, created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett,  to commit at least half one’s wealth to philanthropic causes.

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Facts: CBS News