Cambridge receives record £190 million gift from British investor

The University of Cambridge has received a gift of £190 million in what is thought to be the largest donation of its kind in modern times.

Chris Rokos, a British investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, has agreed to make an initial gift of £130 million, with further gifts of up to £60 million, to be matched by Cambridge.

The money will go towards establishing the Rokos School of Government, which is hoped will contribute to the UK’s soft power capabilities.

In a statement, Rokos, a graduate of the University of Oxford, said discussions about the school began some years ago.

“It was becoming clear that the world was changing in new and different ways, and that the processes of government needed to adapt accordingly. New challenges and opportunities require new responses.”

Cambridge said the centre will prepare future leaders to be able to navigate the ever-more-challenging demands of global politics in a new and complex world of great structural change. 

The donation is said to be the largest individual donation made to a UK university in modern times. It dwarfs the £107.3 million that Cambridge received across the whole of 2024-25.

The Rokos School of Government will be based in a new building in Cambridge’s West Innovation District. It is set to open this autumn.

Rokos is the founder of global multi-asset investment fund Rokos Capital Management, which manages around £17 billion.

The donation comes just a few months after Rokos paid himself almost half a billion pounds after his firm’s profits soared in recent years.

Deborah Prentice, vice-chancellor of Cambridge, said: “Tackling the enormous challenges facing our world requires radical new ways of thinking and approaches to leadership. Cambridge, with its strengths across all disciplines and its convening power, is uniquely positioned to drive this innovation.

“Thanks to Chris’ generous support, the Rokos School of Government will become a place where leaders and governments – both current and future – together with experts from across our institution generate the insights and solutions needed to respond to our rapidly changing world.”

Rokos’ firm was recently in talks on hiring former UK business secretary Peter Mandelson as an adviser, before he was implicated in the Epstein files.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com