Gregory Gerami, the benefactor of the $237 million donation to Florida A&M University, spoke out about suspicions regarding his generous contribution. Gerami spoke to Tarah Jean of the Tallahassee Democrat about the $237 million sum that broke Florida A&M’s record for the largest singular donation. He claims the university already has the money.
“The stocks have been held by the university for over a month now, so I don’t know where the confusion or the skepticism would be since it’s already in a financial account with the university,” Gerami said.
The university corroborated Gerami’s claim, stating that it had already received the funds.
“Mr. Gerami’s $237,750,000 stock transfer was received in the same manner in which we have accepted all other stocks donated to the University through the FAMU Foundation Inc,” FAMU wrote in a statement. “As with any non-cash gift received, such as cryptocurrency, real estate and stocks, it will be converted to cash and recorded appropriately.”
There are a number of factors swirling around the situation that triggered concern from the FAMU and HBCU community. First, little is known about Gregory Gerami, the Issac Batterson 7th Family Trust fund that wired the stocks to the university, or Gerami’s company, the Batterson Farms Corporation. Jean’s article states that Gerami is a 30-year-old hemp farmer and entrepreneur with a minuscule internet footprint.
“This is a main example why I don’t have an internet presence, nor do I care to have one,” he said. “People take things out of context. They run and they damage and hurt people with information that’s incorrect and just not appropriate.”
This is not the first time Gerami tried to donate an exceptionally large amount of money to a university. Last year, he tried to gift Coastal Carolina University with $95 million, but the deal reportedly fell through. He also tried and failed to donate to Miles College, an HBCU in Fairfield, Alabama. Florida A&M brass claim that they are investigating Gerami, but they are not all in agreement.
“As Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, I have a responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the university I cherish, but I have deep concerns that this process is moving too quickly to embrace a gift without proper scrutiny,” said FAMU President Larry Robinson.
The university also signed a non-disclosure agreement, further preventing them from releasing details about Gerami’s donation and stoking the flames of suspicion.
As for the reason behind the enormous contribution, Gerami says he wants to support HBCUs for future generations.
“To give back to HBCU at this level, it’s important to me to be able to choose for our foundation, to be able to choose a university where our legacy will continue and will be the most impactful,” he said in a quote posted on FAMU’s X page. “For generations and generations to come, that is the most important thing to our foundation and us.”
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