Who is David Booth? Net Worth, How He Made His Fortune, and His $300m Gift to KU

David Booth has become a figure of interest after donating one of the largest gifts in college athletics history. He pledged $300 million to his alma mater, the University of Kansas, to contribute to their athletics and campus development. The move includes $75 million directed to funding the next phase of the Gateway District, along with stadium renovations.

About David Booth

David Gilbert Booth was born on 2 December 1946 in Lawrence, the sixth-largest city in Kansas in the United States. In 1968, he received a bachelor's degree majoring in economics at the University of Kansas.

A year later, he would also get a master's of science degree in business at the university. He would enroll at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business in 1969, earning an MBA degree in 1971.

Notably, he met Rex Sinquefield at the university, and they would co-found Dimensional Fund Advisors. Booth helped create one of the world's first index funds in the 1970s.

Booth was part of a team led by John 'Mac' McQuown at Wells Fargo. This was pivotal, as index funds are known nowadays as simple, low-cost and diversify your money for you.

He also worked as a research assistant to Eugene Fama. He is known for contributions to asset pricing, portfolio theory and efficient market hypothesis, which argued that it's impossible to consistently beat the market.

The hypothesis from his instructor would inspire his investment approach, which relied on applying academic research to practical investing strategies. Booth went on to develop factor investing, targeting areas of the market that have higher expected returns depending on research.

With this, Dimensional grew from being a small business operating out of a spare room to a global investment manager. Notably, as of 30 June 2025, the company has handled $853 billion in assets.

Booth served as the company's CEO, and later Co-CEO until 2017. In the present day, he's still involved albeit in more strategic programs where he works as chairman.

David Booth's Net Worth

Given his contributions to finance, Booth is one of the most influential figures in the space. He's established himself through his business acumen and philanthropy.

As per Forbes, he has a net worth of $2.9 billion. Another report also states that it could be as high as $5 billion. Booth's source of income is self made, mostly from mutual funds.

This is credited to his direction for Dimensional, which has grown into a firm with hundreds of billions in assets. His management has translated into the company, and himself, amassing a substantial fortune.

Booth's $300 Million Gift to KU

As mentioned, what brought Booth back to the public eye was his unprecedented $300 million donation to the University of Kansas. At least $75 million is to be used for launching the second phase of their ongoing transformation of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and construction of the surrounding Gateway District.

As the stadium's name suggests, it was dubbed after Booth. He's one of the most prominent graduates in Kansas and is considered a modern finance legend.

His massive gift enables the university to continue renovations for the east side of the stadium once the 2025 football season ends. The remainder of the donation will be used to establish an annual, additional revenue stream for Kansas athletics.

'One of life's greatest privileges is being able to give back to the people and places that gave much to you', said Booth in response to the news of his donations. He added that KU and Lawrence are big parts of his story, and it meant a lot to him to support the community that invested in him.