Meet the billionaires bankrolling March Madness Sweet 16 schools—from the Dallas Cowboys owner to Carlyle Group’s founder

Behind the nation’s greatest college basketball teams is a steady flow of donations from billionaires with varying industry backgrounds and connections to the schools. 

Among them are the cofounder of the Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest investment firms; the owner of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, and a Houston hospitality mogul whose name is flashed on an entire arena. Several powerhouse teams bankrolled by billionaires are favored to advance far in this year’s March Madness tournament. 

Considering the global sports entertainment industry is estimated to be worth more than $3 trillion, it’s no wonder America’s wealthiest are eager to throw money at the nation’s best college athletics programs. 

This year’s March Madness tournament is particularly flush with billionaire money. The Big Ten alone sent six teams to the Sweet 16, meaning the financial stakes for some of the country’s wealthiest athletic boosters have never been higher. This year’s men’s tournament is expected to have more than $270 million in payouts, with each of the 135 available units (games) valued at roughly $2 million, paid out to conferences over six years (that’s about $350,000 per year).

That money flows directly to conferences, not schools. That’s why wealthy alumni and other billionaire boosters step in to fill the gap, pouring hundreds of millions into facilities, NIL deals, and recruiting budgets that tournament checks can’t offer.

Fortune has compiled a sampling of billionaire donors to schools participating in this year’s Sweet 16. Note, this list is not exhaustive.

David Rubenstein is backing Duke

Rubenstein, cofounder of The Carlyle Group, grew up in Baltimore and earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1970, where he has made generous donations over the decades. 

He cofounded The Carlyle Group in 1987 with just $5 million in capital, but grew it to one of the world’s largest private equity firms with $477 billion in assets under management. Rubenstein is worth an estimated $4.2........

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