The real estate developer Stephen M. Ross is giving the University of Michigan $200 million, the single largest gift in the university’s history.
Mr. Ross is the founder and chairman of the New York-based Related Companies, which is currently developing the Hudson Yards project on the West Side of Manhattan. He has now donated a total of $313 million to the university.
A chunk of the new gift will go toward the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, which was named after Mr. Ross in 2004 after he gave $100 million to construct a new business school building. Mr. Ross earned an undergraduate business degree from the university in 1962.
The balance of Mr. Ross’s donation will be earmarked for the university’s athletic program, and used to develop new sports facilities. The sports facilities will now be renamed the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus.
There is also already a Stephen M. Ross Academic Center at the school, the result of an earlier $5 million donation.
“The University of Michigan had a profound impact on my life, and I have received enormous satisfaction from being able to give back to the institution that played such a critical role in my success,†Mr. Ross said in a statement.
With his latest largesse, Mr. Ross now eclipses Charles Munger, the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, as Michigan’s largest donor. Mr. Munger gave a $110 million gift to the university last year to build dormitories on the Ann Arbor campus.
After graduating from Michigan, Mr. Ross earned a law degree from Wayne State and a master’s in tax from New York University School of Law. He began his career as a tax lawyer at Coopers & Lybrand in Detroit before pursuing real estate development.
At the peak of the market, in 2007, Related sold a minority stake in his company to Goldman Sachs, Michael Dell and two Middle East investors. Mr. Ross used part of the proceeds from that deal to purchase the Miami Dolphins football team.
Today, Mr. Ross’s Related Companies is developing Hudson Yards, among the largest real estate projects in the country’s history. When finished, the project will include 17 buildings across 26 acres constructed on top of the West Side rail yards. Mr. Ross currently works out of the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, another Related property.
Mr. Ross and Hudson Yards are the focus of a 4,300-word article in the most recent issue of Fortune magazine. The article, by Shawn Tully, highlights Mr. Ross’s love for his alma mater. His office is covered with Michigan paraphernalia, and his cellphone ringtone is the university’s famed fight song, “The Victors.â€
