A massive donation to a Florida university that had the potential to change the institution’s future has been put on hold due to concerns about the source of the funds.
Florida A&M University, a historically black university, reportedly received a $237 million donation from a 30-year-old Texas hemp farming executive. This executive had previously failed to follow through on a large donation to Coastal Carolina University, which raised red flags.
The donation, in the form of millions of shares of stock from Batterson Farms Corporation, was announced at the school’s graduation ceremony. However, due to concerns about the true value of the shares and the involvement of an anonymous donor, university officials decided to put the gift on hold.
The agreement for the donation outlined a minimum stock value of $239 million, with an additional $61 million to be donated over the next decade, potentially bringing the total gift to $300 million. The stocks were held in a Carta account, a platform for managing equity.
Questions have been raised about the anonymous donor, using The Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust name, who was a key focus of the donation agreement. The donor’s desire to remain anonymous until the executive agreed to make it public raised further suspicions.
The company behind the donation did not respond to requests for comment from the Truth Voices. The future of the donation remains uncertain as the university continues to investigate the source and true value of the gift.
