Billionaire gifts more than Rs 20 crore in cash to 2,500 graduates. Watch

Robert Hale, co-founder and president at Granite and (right) the graduation ceremony at UMass Boston University. (Image credits: Robert Hale/LinkedIn, @queen2knight/Twitter)

A US billionaire surprised 2,500 students on their graduation day by gifting each of them $1,000 in cash. That's equivalent to more than Rs 20 crore, but that's a relatively small dent in Robert Hale's pocket as his net worth is estimated to be $5 billion.

There was, however, a lesson conveyed through the generous gesture.

As students of UMass Boston undergraduate class of 2023 lined up to receive their gift, Hale -- the co-founder and president of Granite Telecommunications -- gave them two envelopes with the cash evenly split. One $500 envelope was labeled “gift” and the other “give”, reports stated.

"The first $500 is for you," Hale said while addressing the graduates. "It's a celebration of all you have done to be here today. You're leaders. Celebrate. The second $500 is a gift for you to give to ... somebody else or another organisation who could use it more than you. Share in the joy of giving."

"These trying times have heightened the need for sharing, caring and giving. Our community and our world need you, it needs us more than ever — needs us to be compassionate," the philanthropic billionaire added.

At @UMassBoston commencement, billionaire commencement speaker Robert Hale just told 2,500 stunned graduates he is giving them each $1,000 — half to keep, he said, and half to give. pic.twitter.com/oCq3XThdoE

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— sonel cutler (@cutler_sonel) May 25, 2023

The generous gift, however, is not the first of its kind bestowed by Robert Hale. He had shown the same generosity to the class of 2022 at Roxbury Community College. "If you give a little more than you get your life will be better because of it, I promise you," Hale told UMass graduates.

Read more: Billionaire signs up to be frozen after death for future revival