Austin Billionaire Robert F. Smith Pays Off College Student Loans

AUSTIN, TX — The billionaire who made national headlines over the weekend by pledging to wipe out the student loan debt of the Morehouse College Class of 2019 in Atlanta is an Austin businessman who's quietly gone about the business of building an investment firm empire in Austin with little fanfare.

Robert F. Smith is not a household name, but a familiar one on the annual list of richest Americans put out by Forbes magazine. According to the publication, Smith in 2000 founded Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm focusing on investing in software companies. Forbes estimates Smith's current net worth to be about $5 billion.

This past weekend, Smith was the commencement speaker at Morehouse College, shocking the audience while announcing his creation of a grant to eliminate each of the graduates' student loan debt — a bit of largesse valued at some $40 million.

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"You great Morehouse men are bound only by the limits of your own conviction and creativity," Smith said at the graduation, according to local media. Morehouse College is a historically black school for men located in Atlanta. According to the college, it is the world's only HBCU (Historically Black Colleges or Universities) campus for men.

Smith hinted at his magnanimity in remarks to graduates: "More than the money we make, the awards, or recognition, or titles we earn, each of us will be measured by how much we contribute to the success of the people around us," he said.

Then, he lowered the boom: "This is my class, 2019. And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans," he said to thunderous applause.

Forbes noted that Smith, 56, is the first African-American to sign the "Giving Pledge," described as "...a commitment to contribute the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes." Smith previously gave $20 million to the National Museum of African American History in Washington D.C. in 2016.

Smith's donation is all the buzz across the country. President Barack Obama took time in taking to Twitter to alert his followers of Smith's philanthropy:

The private equity group Smith founded manages some $46 million in investments among a portfolio of 50-plus software companies employing 60,000 people worldwide, according to the firm’s website. The company has its offices at the Frost Bank Tower at 112 E. 4th St., reportedly has invested in various Austin tech firms, including human relations software provider Kazoo, legal information services company Mitratech and online marketing firm Main Street Hub.

Smith made a bit of local news recently when he donated $1.25 million to kickstart a $2.5 million initiative to construct a “mini-boardwalk” under the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge.

Forbes last year listed Smith as the nation’s richest African American. Overall, he ranked 355th on Forbes’ Billionaires 2019 list.

The root of Smith's gift to Morehouse was likely informed from personal experience. Notwithstanding his considerable wealth and influence, he told the Washington Post in 2016 that, as a black man, he gets stopped by Austin police several times a year while driving to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Invariably, he told the Post, officers run his tags while checking his license before letting him proceed for his travels.

“You shouldn’t have to be fearful of your life,” he said in describing what appears to be an ever-limited freedom of movement granted to black men in this country. “You should be able to drive to the airport and not be stopped three to seven times a year.”

Born in Colorado to parents who earned parents with PhDs, Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and an MBA from Columbia Business School, according to Vista Equity’s website. Before venturing out on his own, he worked at Kraft General Foods, where he earned two U.S. patents and two European patents. He later joined Goldman Sachs before founding his own investment firm, the website reads.