Meet The Billionaire Boosters Behind March Madness 2026
· Yahoo Sports
Big-time college sports have never exactly been cheap, but over the past five years, as a series of court rulings and policy changes have redirected the spigot of money toward student-athletes through name, image and likeness (NIL) marketing deals and a revenue-sharing system with universities, athletic departments have grown increasingly desperate for cash.
Many programs have begun creating or renovating premium seating options to drive up ticket prices, or signing sponsor agreements that put corporate logos directly on the field. Other schools aiming to keep up in the arms race are exploring deals with institutional investors. In December, the University of Utah partnered with Otro Capital, and the Big 12 Conference is negotiating with two other private equity firms.
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But for all of the financial innovation sweeping across college sports, when it comes to beefing up budgets, there is still nothing like a deep-pocketed patron.
In a Sports Business Journal analysis of 110 schools, donations rose 40% from 2019 to 2023, and nearly three-quarters of the schools set fundraising records after the new NIL rules went into effect. And there is no shortage of affluent alumni for universities to tap. Among the 64 teams tipping off in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Thursday and Friday, several are backed by billionaire boosters.
For example, David Booth, who built a net worth estimated at $2.4 billion as cofounder of investment firm Dimensional Fund Advisors, pledged roughly $300 million to the University of Kansas’ athletic department last year, following a separate $50 million gift announced in 2017. Sports drink mogul Mike Repole, meanwhile, has put his $2.5 billion net worth to work on behalf of St. John’s, most recently promising to contribute up to $1 million to the Red Storm’s NIL fund. And Ryan Smith, cofounder of cloud computing company Qualtrics and owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz and the NHL’s Utah Mammoth, worth an estimated $3.3 billion, helped recruit BYU star forward A.J. Dybantsa.
Even those phenomenal fortunes, however, are dwarfed by this Sweet 16, a group of superfans—some of whom aren’t even alumni—with a combined net worth that Forbes estimates at $365 billion.
Here are some of the wealthiest boosters who have donated to the athletic departments of this year’s March Madness teams.
Jay Hirano/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty ImagesLarry Ellison, Michigan
Net Worth: $195.6 billion
Ellison, the cofounder of Oracle, whose net worth briefly crossed $400 billion in September before a slump in the software giant’s share price, dropped out of the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois, but he wrote a big check for the University of Michigan—the Illini’s Big Ten rival—in 2024. The 81-year-old tech billionaire reportedly helped fund the eight-figure NIL package that flipped football recruit Bryce Underwood from LSU to Michigan, the alma mater of his wife, Jolin.
Ellison is joined in his support of the Wolverines—a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament’s Midwest Region this year—by 85-year-old real estate developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross (estimated net worth: $17 billion), whose lifetime giving to Michigan reportedly stands at $480 million, including $100 million for the athletic department announced in 2013.
Dan Gilbert, Michigan State
Net Worth: $23.4 billion
The No. 3-seeded Spartans have plenty of billionaire boosters. Gilbert, the 64-year-old owner of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, gave $15 million through his family foundation in 2016 toward the renovation of Michigan State’s basketball arena, and his company, mortgage lender Rocket Companies, is a Spartans sponsor.
Meanwhile, United Wholesale Mortgage CEO and Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia, worth an estimated $8.4 billion, pledged $32 million in 2021 and another $14 million in 2022, and his brother, investor Justin Ishbia, dipped into his $5.8 billion fortune to donate $10 million in 2024 and more than $1 million in 2025. And Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, who famously led the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA championship and is now worth $1.6 billion, once said he is “willing to do whatever” the school needs.
But Michigan State’s largest gift comes from a couple not on Forbes’ billionaires list. In December, Acrisure CEO Greg Williams and his wife, Dawn, committed $401 million to the university, including $290 million earmarked for the athletic department and $100 million toward the creation of an entity to develop new revenue streams for the school’s sports programs.
Tony Gutierrez/Associated PressJerry Jones, Arkansas
Net Worth: $20.5 billion
The 83-year-old owner of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, who first got rich as an oil wildcatter, donated 256 acres of land to the University of Arkansas athletic department’s fundraising arm in 2015 as part of a gift valued at $10.65 million. Some of the money went toward a monument paying tribute to the Razorbacks’ 1964 championship football team, which featured Jones as an offensive lineman.
Arkansas, a No. 4 seed this year, has another prominent backer in 72-year-old Tyson Foods chairman John Tyson, who is worth an estimated $3.1 billion and donated $6 million toward the renovation of the university’s indoor track, along with sponsoring the Razorbacks through his company. But Arkansas does a pretty good job making money itself: According to Sportico’s financial database of public university sports programs, the Razorbacks were sixth in men’s basketball ticketing revenue in 2023-24 (the most recent season with data available), ahead of powerhouse teams such as UConn and Michigan State.
Nancy Walton Laurie, Missouri
Net Worth: $19.2 billion
Walton Laurie and her husband, Bill, famously gave Mizzou $25 million in 2001 to name its new basketball arena after their daughter—only for the naming rights deal to be terminated when the young woman was caught up in an academic cheating scandal. But the 74-year-old daughter of Walmart cofounder Bud Walton is not the only member of America’s richest family to support the No. 10-seeded Tigers. The university’s track and field stadium has for 30 years been named after Walton Laurie’s mother, Audrey, who last year contributed toward the facility’s renovation.
Charles Ergen, Tennessee
Net Worth: $15 billion
Ergen, the 73-year-old cofounder of Dish Network parent EchoStar, saw his net worth tumble below $800 million in 2023, but his fortune has rocketed back up thanks in part to the controversial sale of the company’s spectrum licenses to AT&T last year. He has put some of that money to use funding both athletic and academic programs at the University of Tennessee, where he earned his bachelor’s degree.
Among the other notable boosters for the sixth-seeded Volunteers are Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam (net worth: $10.3 billion) and his brother, Bill Haslam ($6 billion), whose family name adorns the business school.
Dan Cathy, Clemson
Net Worth: $13.6 billion
Cathy’s father, Truett, founded Chick-fil-A in 1967, building a fortune that made the family the country’s eighth-richest as of 2024, collectively worth $33.6 billion. Dan, 73, actually went to college at Georgia Southern University, but he and his wife, Rhonda, have donated millions to Clemson, a No. 8 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament and the alma mater of their son Ross, who himself has created scholarships for students with disabilities.
Brett Comer/Houston Chronicle/Getty ImagesTilman Fertitta, Houston
Net Worth: $11.5 billion
Fertitta has reportedly given $70 million to the University of Houston, including $20 million to the athletic department in 2016 to help renovate the basketball arena, which is now named after him. The 68-year-old owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets as well as Landry’s, the restaurant, hotel and casino conglomerate, no longer serves on the university system’s board of regents, having stepped down last year when he was nominated to become the U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino. But Fertitta remains passionate about the No. 2-seeded Cougars and has publicly urged the school to improve its NIL fundraising.
Mark Stevens, Santa Clara
Net Worth: $10.7 billion
The 66-year-old Stevens was a partner at Sequoia Capital when it invested in Google, LinkedIn and PayPal and now has his own firm, S-Cubed Capital. He has given back through gifts to his alma mater, USC, as well as No. 10-seeded Santa Clara University, where his wife, Mary, earned a bachelor’s degree and now serves as a trustee. The university’s soccer stadium and practice facility share the couple’s surname, and they also helped build an athletics center where student-athletes can train, study and receive medical treatment.
Jeffery Hildebrand, Texas and Texas A&M
Net Worth: $10.6 billion
Hildebrand is a massive donor to two different schools in the NCAA tournament field. The 67-year-old oil tycoon has given more than $100 million to a variety of academic and athletic programs at the University of Texas, his alma mater, which won Tuesday’s “First Four” play-in game as a No. 11 seed and has a fellow oil-billionaire booster in Robert Rowling (net worth: $8.1 billion). Hildebrand has also supported tenth-seeded Texas A&M University, where his father, Thomas, studied veterinary medicine and his daughter, Brittany, was a member of the national champion equestrian team. Hildebrand helped build a world-class equestrian center and a cross-country course for the Aggies.
With support like that, Texas and Texas A&M ranked No. 1 and No. 2 among 240 public university athletic departments in total donor contributions from 2022 to 2024, with $304 million and $258 million, respectively, according to the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database.
Rick Osentoski/Associated PressJosh Harris, Penn
Net Worth: $10.2 billion
The 14th-seeded University of Pennsylvania’s undergraduate programs have produced more American billionaires than any other school, Forbes found in 2024, and Harris is among those giving back to the university. In 2018, the 61-year-old cofounder of alternative investment firm Apollo Global Management and owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils gave $1 million to the wrestling team, which Harris competed on in the 1980s.
Another Penn billionaire, Ronald Perelman, worth an estimated $1.6 billion, has also donated to both athletic and academic causes at the university.
Les Wexner, Ohio State
Net Worth: $8.9 billion
Wexner has long been the best-known booster of the No. 8-seeded Buckeyes, serving as a trustee for Ohio State’s medical center and donating $2.5 million in 2007 toward the football practice complex—two facilities that now bear his name. However, the 88-year-old founder of the L Brands retail empire, whose surname also graces the university’s arts center, is facing outrage over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein as well as sexual abuse allegations against an Ohio State doctor during Wexner’s tenure on the university’s board of regents in the 1990s. Some students and prominent state residents have called for the university to rename the buildings, and there have been similar demands at Harvard, another school that has received financial support from Wexner.
There is no such controversy, however, around LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star forward, whose net worth is estimated at $1.4 billion. While the Akron native hasn’t made a publicized cash donation to the Buckeyes, he has used his Nike connection to give away gear to the university’s sports teams.
Paul Tudor Jones II, Virginia
Net Worth: $8.1 billion
Thanks to a $35 million gift from Jones, the third-seeded University of Virginia’s basketball arena has been named after his father, John Paul Jones, since it opened in 2006. In addition to his sports support, the 71-year-old hedge fund manager and his wife, Sonia, gave $40 million toward the construction of the university’s Contemplative Commons, which contains spaces for research and lectures as well as activities like dance and yoga.
Rick Bowmer/Associated PressGail Miller, Utah State
Net Worth: $4.8 billion
Before Miller’s husband, Larry, died in 2009, they turned a single Toyota dealership in Murray, Utah, into a massive network. Miller, 82, who did not attend ninth-seeded Utah State but was given an honorary doctorate degree in 2024, has supported the university both athletically and academically, with donations to the business school, and although she sold the NBA’s Utah Jazz in 2020, she remains a key figure in the state’s sports landscape. Last year, America’s seventh-richest self-made woman purchased MLS’s Real Salt Lake and the NWSL’s Utah Royals.
Anthony Pritzker, UCLA
Net Worth: $4.4 billion
The 65-year-old Pritzker, who runs a private equity firm and is among the heirs to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, has contributed to athletics and academics at seventh-seeded UCLA through the foundation he started with his now-ex-wife, Jeanne, providing more than $115 million from 1996 through 2023. Pritzker Hall, which houses the university's psychology department, and the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families, which aims to reduce the need for foster care, carry his surname.
Pritzker may soon have a fellow billionaire booster in Casey Wasserman, who is selling a stake in his namesake talent agency that Forbes estimates could be worth more than $800 million. The 51-year-old grandson of Hollywood power broker Lew Wasserman was part of the search committee that hired football coach Bob Chesney in December and reportedly donated about $20 million toward a football training center that is named after him. Like Wexner, however, Wasserman has faced criticism for his appearance in the Epstein files, in his case for flirtatious messages he exchanged with Ghislaine Maxwell.
Drew Angerer/AFP/Getty ImagesDavid Rubenstein, Duke
Net Worth: $4.2 billion
Rubenstein, the 76-year-old private equity billionaire who cofounded the Carlyle Group, served on Duke’s board of trustees from 2005 to 2017 and has supported a number of causes at the university, including a $10 million gift to the athletic department in 2012 and $25 million toward a new arts building in 2015. The Blue Devils, the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed this year, are putting the money to work: Sportico found that the university had the second-largest men’s basketball budget in this year’s NCAA tournament field, behind only the University of Kentucky.
Jim Davis, Villanova
Net Worth: $4 billion
Founding Allegis Group, the United States’ largest staffing firm, made both Davis and his cousin Stephen Bisciotti billionaires. In another collaboration with a family member, Davis and his brother, William, helped build a namesake training center for the men’s and women’s basketball teams at eighth-seeded Villanova, which opened in 2007. The 66-year-old Davis further indulges his passion for sports as a minority owner of MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals.