The Cleveland Clinic and three U.S. universities announced Wednesday they will receive unrestricted funds of roughly $260 million each, due to the sale of global technology and manufacturing company, Lord Corp.
Why it matters: Officials at the the Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University and the University of Southern California say the anticipated $1 billion in total donations is believed to be the largest single allocation of its kind.
Of note: Many institutional donations like this comes with detailed agreements from donors on how the money may be used, but this did not, the Washington Post reports.
Lord Corp. grew its sales to more than $1 billion in 2018, and the company was recently purchased by Parker-Hannifin Corporation for $3.7 billion, triggering the distribution of proceeds to the four schools to advance education and research in science and technology, per the Cleveland Clinic.
The Lord foundations supported MIT, Duke, USC and the Cleveland Clinic, and previously handed out approximately $200 million to the four institutions since the 1980s.
The bottom line: The universities and medical center can prioritize needs that are pressing, but may not be appealing to donors.
