News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch made a surprise $5.5 million donation last week to a Harlem charter school during a benefit concert at the neighborhood’s legendary Apollo Theater, the New York Post reported.
Murdoch was introduced by former New York Giant running back Tiki Barber before appearing on stage and presenting the Harlem Village Academy, a well−performing school for fifth− through 10th−graders, with the donation, the Post reported. The money will go toward constructing a high school building for the academy.
“They’re setting higher standards for schools in the whole community,” Murdoch said of the school.
The benefit concert was hosted by Academy Awards emcee Hugh Jackman and featured performances by singers Patti LaBelle and John Legend, the Post reported.
The city’s charter schools receive no funding for construction, which has forced many of them to use operational funds to build.
TimesLedger Newspapers, Courier−Life Publications, the Brooklyn Paper and the Bronx Times are part of the Community Newspaper Group, which is owned by News Corp.
— Nathan Duke
