Robin Hood Raises $54.5M at NY Benefit

The Robin Hood Foundation raised $54.5 million at its benefit Monday night, revved up by a new leader and a $15 million challenge grant by billionaire Ken Griffin, founder of hedge fund firm Citadel.

Robin Hood will use the money to fight poverty in New York City under incoming CEO Wes Moore, the U.S. Army veteran, Rhodes Scholar and onetime Citigroup investment banker who starts next month.

“It’s inspiring to see this many people come together to focus on poverty, but really poverty is the wrong choice of word,” Griffin said in an interview at the Javits Center in Manhattan. “We’re here to focus on the people struggling to make ends meet. An enormous amount of people here came from trying circumstances. My father was first in his family to go to college.”