A monstrous gift to a Florida university that would’ve changed its future and the lives of many associated with the university has been placed “on hold” in the wake of calculated skepticism about the source of the money.
Florida A&M University, a historically black university, received an alleged $237 million donation from a 30-year-old Texas hemp farming executive, who already failed to donate a large gift to Coastal Carolina University — one that would’ve nearly tripled the school’s endowment.
“With regards to the gift and the processing of it and so forth, in terms of future processing, we’ve already decided it’s in our best interest to put that on hold,” FAMU President Larry Robinson said during a meeting discussing the donation.
The gift is in the form of millions of shares of stock from Batterson Farms Corporation — a seemingly small business selling hydroponic hemp farm products. Its CEO, Gregory Gerami, gave the gift to the university before it announced it at the school’s graduation ceremony, and officials were bound by a nondisclosure agreement preventing them from discussing it.
This could’ve resulted in a rash decision to reveal the enigmatic gift at the school’s commencement, with a value of $237,750,000 printed on the check. A board member speculated at the meeting to discuss the gift that shares could be worth “$500 million or it could be zero.”
“Where does this valuation come from?” Rebel Cole, a professor of finance at Florida Atlantic University, said in an interview with Politico. “It raises more questions than it answers. If I were a dog, my hackles would be up.”
The actual agreement lists a minimum “intrinsic stock” value of at least $239 million, with an additional $61 million donated over the next decade. That’d bring the gift to at least $300 million total.
The stocks are located in a Carta account, an equity management platform that also operates CartaX private exchange, a way for people to sell stock in private companies before it goes public or is acquired.
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Another dubious part of the agreement is the additional presence of an anonymous donor using The Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust name to represent the person throughout the document, and that donor appears to be the primary focus of the document. The agreement goes on to note that “it is the desire of the donor to remain anonymous until Mr. Gerami agrees to make it public,” and the donor will receive a plaque at the university.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the company for comment but did not receive a response.