LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Billionaire investor and Las Vegas casino magnate Kirk Kerkorian is giving $200 million to a California university, officials said.
The money, currently assets in the Lincy Foundation, which was established in 1989 to help victims of an earthquake in Armenia, will be transferred to a new organization called the Dream Fund, to be run by the University of California in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
Half of the money is designated for medical research and other projects, and the other half is for the university to administer for charitable causes around the nation, the Times reported.
The money was given in the wake of a $100 million gift from Meyer Luskin, a UCLA alumnus who earned his wealth in an animal-feed business. Luskin's gift will be split between UCLA's school of public affairs and the building of an on-campus conference center and hotel, the Times reported.
Expressing thanks for both men's gifts, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said, "The UCLA Foundation and the entire UCLA community are grateful for a magnificent act of support by a private foundation."
Kerkorian's gift "is yet another testament to our community's enduring belief in UCLA's important role as an engine for the public good," said Block.
