A Paused $100 Million Pledge, a Long Courtship and a Building Named for Dad
Billionaire Stuart Zimmer stopped funding a $100 million pledge to Harvard after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. After roughly two years of courting, the gift is back on, and it shows the leverage a big pledge carries.
By Sean Anees Saifi · Capital Wealth · Published Tuesday, September 15, 2026 · Source: The Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2026 edition (U.S. News)
Key Points
Stuart Zimmer and his wife pledged $100 million to Harvard in 2018, but he stopped funding it after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
President Alan Garber courted Zimmer for roughly two years; meanwhile Harvard updated protest rules, adopted institutional neutrality and launched faculty training.
Harvard’s Science Center will be named for Zimmer’s father, and the gift will expand kosher dining options for students.
Donors who stop giving typically lose negotiated naming rights and don’t get already-donated money back.
Alumni filled some of the gap with a record $629 million in current-use donations in 2025.
$100M
pledge Stuart and Jennifer Zimmer made in 2018
~2 years
how long Garber courted Zimmer
$629M
record alumni current-use donations in 2025
Stuart Zimmer, a 1991 Harvard graduate, stopped funding his $100 million pledge after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. After a long courtship by President Alan Garber, the gift is back on.
In one line: Harvard spent roughly two years winning back billionaire Stuart Zimmer’s paused $100 million gift, a case study in the leverage a big pledge carries.
Harvard’s June reunion had the usual program: a Q&A, a class photo, talk of rigorous debate. Underneath it, President Alan Garber was chasing a bigger outcome. He’d spent roughly two years courting billionaire investor Stuart Zimmer, who with his wife pledged $100 million in 2018, then stopped funding the gift after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks on Israel. Before the reunion ended, Garber had the outlines of a deal.
What changed by June
Zimmer graduated in 1991, and his two oldest children went to Harvard too. People who know him said he’d been appalled by the university’s actions after the attacks and troubled by antisemitism on campus. By June, he’d grown close to Garber through many conversations. Harvard had updated its antidiscrimination and protest rules and launched faculty training. It also adopted institutional neutrality — it no longer takes collective stances on controversial social or political issues.
Zimmer also received assurance that Harvard would keep recruiting at Jewish day schools, as far as the post-affirmative-action legal landscape allows. The announced gift is specific. Harvard’s existing Science Center will carry the name of Zimmer’s father, a neuroradiologist, and the money will expand kosher dining for students.
The leverage in a pledge
Here’s the quiet power of a pledge paid over time: the donor can stop. Donors who stop typically forfeit any naming rights they negotiated, and they don’t get back money already given. Still, big donors matter. Alumni gave a record $629 million in current-use donations — money a school can spend right away — in 2025. And many big donors who paused after Oct. 7 have started giving again, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Most families aren’t negotiating building names, but the principles scale down. A restricted gift — money tied to a set purpose, like kosher dining — keeps your intent in the agreement. A donor-advised fund — an account you fund now and recommend grants from over time — lets you give on your own schedule. Either way, put your wishes in writing, including what happens if a charity’s direction changes.
What It Means For Your Portfolio
Hold — give with a plan, in writing
Hold: nothing in our portfolios changes, but Zimmer’s paused pledge is a reminder that a gift works best with clear terms, written down before the money moves.
General planning principles, not advice for anyone in particular. Decide what a gift is for before deciding how big it is. Restricted gifts lock in a purpose; unrestricted gifts trust the institution’s judgment. Pledges paid over time keep some leverage, but they’re also promises a charity budgets around. Whatever you choose, your gift agreement, your will and your beneficiary forms should all tell the same story.
Nothing in the Capital Wealth portfolios changes because of this story. Here’s the household move: a written giving plan covering which causes, how much, restricted or not, and whether a donor-advised fund fits. Tag the umbrella before you lend it out: bring a statement and your will, and fifteen minutes can get your giving wishes on paper.
