Billionaire Rob Hale surprises UMass Boston graduates with $1,000 and a challenge

By CNN Newsource

Published May 25, 2023 11:58 AM

By Web staff

BOSTON (WBZ) — UMass Boston graduating seniors got a surprise they likely won’t forget during their commencement ceremony on Thursday.

Speaker Rob Hale surprised all 2,523 graduates with two envelopes apiece.

One of the envelopes included $500 as a gift to the outgoing students. The second envelope for each graduate was $500 to give to a person or organization in need.

“For us the greatest joys we’ve had in our life has been the gift of giving. So each of you is getting $1,000 cash right now,” Hale told graduates, prompting screams of excitement from the crowd.

Hale is CEO of Granite Telecommunications, which he founded in 2002. He was among 10 people from Massachusetts on the 2023 Forbes billionaires list with a net worth of about $5 billion.

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