Billionaire Robert F. Smith To Pay Off Morehouse Student Loans

ATLANTA, GA — Billionaire Robert F. Smith, the 2019 commencement speaker at Morehouse College, told the graduating class that he is creating a grant to eliminate their student loans.

"You great Morehouse men are bound only by the limits of your own conviction and creativity," Smith said at the graduation, according to 11Alive.

Morehouse College is an HBCU for men in Atlanta. According to the college, it is the world's only HBCU for men.

"This is my class, 2019," Smith said before revealing news of the grant.

"And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans."

According to Forbes Magazine, Smith founded Vista Equity Partners in 2000, a private equity firm that focuses on investing in software companies. Forbes estimates Smith's current net worth to be about $5 billion.

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

Related story: Austin Billionaire Robert F. Smith Pays Off College Student Loans

Smith ranked No.355 on the 2019 Forbes billionaires list.

Smith's gift to the school elicited positive reactions on Twitter.