Boone Pickens likes to make money – and he sure likes giving it away. That’s one of the many takeaways readers get from an interview given by Pickens just days before his 85th birthday that was published in Monday’s Tulsa World.
Pickens says he has donated almost as much as he’s now worth, including $525 million to Oklahoma State University athletics and academics. He says he plans on giving away more money to nonprofit causes he supports, including OSU, medical research and groups that help veterans.
As members of the Pickens Plan Army well know, Pickens puts considerable emphasis on leadership and the need for a plan. Thanks to both of those elements, Oklahoma State has seen a surge in support.
OSU President Burns Hargis said Pickens’ record-setting donations to OSU athletics and academics had a multiplier impact. The university recently announced it had reached its $1 billion “Branding Success” fundraising campaign goal early.
“We’ve attracted over 80,000 new donors to our campaign,” Hargis said. “We’ve created thousands of scholarships, about 130 endowed chairs and professorships. … It’s just a different place, and it’s a different place because of Boone Pickens.”
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