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5 hours ago
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The British billionaire hedge fund manager Chris Rokos has donated a record £190m to the University of Cambridge to establish a new school of government, which will bear his name.
It is believed to be the single biggest donation to any UK university in modern times and is intended to support Cambridge to become a leading training ground for future world leaders.
Rokos, 55, one of the UK’s richest individuals, is giving an initial £130m, plus further funds of up to £60m that will be matched by the university.
Discussions have been under way for some time, but the Rokos school of government will open its doors in temporary accommodation this autumn, offering PhD and master’s degrees.
It will ultimately move into a new building in the Cambridge West Innovation District and aims to rival the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik school of government, which opened in 2010 with a £75m donation from the Soviet-born businessman Leonard Blavatnik.
Rokos, who went to a state primary school before being offered a scholarship to Eton college and studying maths at Oxford, said: “I was fortunate to be given the opportunity of an education which transformed my life, and I would like to give something back to Britain.
“My hope is that, in time, the influence of the Rokos school of government across the world becomes an important element of that soft power, which has been a great asset to the UK.”
According to the university, the new institution is a response to the growing turbulence in domestic and international politics, the growing polarisation of political opinion and long-term structural changes in the economy.
“New challenges and opportunities require new responses,” said Rokos. “For me, there can be no better home for the Rokos school of government than Cambridge University, with its long tradition of scientific innovation and synergistic culture.
“It will provide the school with a unique forum for radical and remarkable thinking, capturing the inspiration of the brightest minds from around the world and harnessing new technologies in order to meet the needs of modern government.”
The vice-chancellor of Cambridge, Prof Deborah Prentice, said: “Tackling the enormous challenges facing our world requires radical new ways of thinking and approaches to leadership. Cambridge, with its strengths across all disciplines and its convening power, is uniquely positioned to drive this innovation.
“Thanks to Chris’s generous support, the Rokos school of government will become a place where leaders and governments – both current and future – together with experts from across our institution generate the insights and solutions needed to respond to our rapidly changing world.”
Rokos is among the UK’s biggest taxpayers and, according to last year’s Sunday Times rich list, is estimated to be worth £2.6bn. He is known for his role as a bond trader, having started his career at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse before co-founding the hedge fund Brevan Howard.
He launched Rokos Capital Management (RCM), which employs more than 350 people, in 2015, making a further name for himself in the finance world. He recently made headlines after it emerged RCM was in talks to hire Peter Mandelson, the former ambassador to the US, in an advisory role, but terminated negotiations after the recent Epstein revelations.
