Billionaire Robert Smith: Morehouse College student loans for the 2019 promotion will be paid by a billionaire

Atlanta – A technology investor and billionaire philanthropist said his family was providing grants to eliminate student debt from the 2019 promotion at Morehouse College. Robert F. Smith made this announcement on Sunday morning in front of nearly 400 graduate seniors, raising the biggest applause of the morning.

"My family will create a grant to eliminate your education loans," Smith said, according to a tweet from school.

A representative from Morehouse College told CBS News that the total amount Smith pledges to donate is $ 40 million. Total student debt is still being calculated.

Morehouse president David Thomas had "no idea" of the announcement.

"People were stunned, if you look at other movie clips, you will see the students turning to each other, what did he say?" He said. think he's said, "Thomas told Mark Strassmann, CBS News correspondent. "It will allow them to pursue their dreams … instead of serving the debt."

Morehouse College is an all-male, historically black, Atlanta-based university. Smith is the founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm that invests in software, data and technology-driven businesses.

During his opening remarks, Smith spoke about Martin Luther King Jr. and explained that a 21st century technology-based economy was a "fourth industrial revolution".

"When Dr. King said that" the bow of the moral universe was bending to justice, "he was not saying that he was bending himself. He is folding because we choose to put our shoulders in together and push ", Smith m said. "Technology is creating a new series of bridges to the 21st century economy, and together we are helping to ensure that African-Americans will gain technological skills and benefit in areas undergoing automation." . "

Smith received an honorary doctorate from Morehouse at the ceremony. He had already announced a $ 1.5 million donation to the school.