Considering that push into Chicago started with Rauner, I’m not surprised.

It was suppose to also include a large campus in the Loop but that floundered for years and was eventually cancelled when UIUC decided to instead be a partner in the new quantum computing center on the south side.

The push into Chicago was independent of Springfield. It was almost entirely private sector driven and Pritzker's PortCos also participated.

The Quantum Exchange being in South Side occured becuase it's tied to Argonne, Fermilab, and by extension UChicago.

Once you climb high enough the ladder everyone basically has the exact same interests, especially in cities like Chicago.

Something something 1871, ChicagoNEXT, Techstars Chicago, UChicago, Northwestern, UIUC, Purdue

It's the same way Penny (JB's sister and former Secretary of Commerce under Obama) and Ken donate oodles to Harvard because it is their undergrad alma mater (eg. Pritzker Commons, Pritzker Hall, Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences).

Also, Ken couldn't control Rauner given that Rauner was equally wealthy (he founded and chaired GTCR with Carl Thoma of Thoma Bravo fame).

Pritzker and Rauner is basically two sides of the same coin where both were essentially retired but in the same circles and decided to compete because of personal ambition.

And ditto UChicago, Griffin and the Pritzkers have both donated massive sums (Griffin Dept of Econ, Pritzker School of Medicine)

Yep. It's basically noblesse oblige. At that level and stage of life, the main driver is legacy building ("will I be in the history books").

If someone wanted to live hedonically, you don't need to be a billionaire - a $15-20M net worth would be more than enough.

Those who make the jump from VHNWI to UHNWI have a whole different mindset and viciousness.

JB's philanthropy tends to target Duke and Northwestern (his alma mater).

Are we suppose to feel good that more bright students are working for deeply undemocratic and anti-human companies? I'd rather these people do something more productive than helping financiers make slightly more billions of dollars.

What a complete waste of human capacity if so.

That is up to the students and alums of these programs. And many do non-profit and humanitarian work as well.

The world is competitive. It is what it is.

To have the power to affect change you need power.

I was under the impression that even people on the left now find these sort of strictly-performative outbursts passé ?