One thing about Batterson Seventh Family Trust CEO Gregory Gerami—that man stands behind the $237,750,000 donation he pledged to Florida A&M University no matter how much people call him a grifter.
Source: Zack Wittman for The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty
As previously reported, FAMU President Larry Robinson recently announced during the virtual Board of Trustees special meeting that the gift transaction had been “ceased,” which could mean that it has been declined indefinitely, or it could mean it has been put on hold while the investigation into the donation and the process by which the university accepted it is concluded.
Either way, Gerami is still claiming the donation is real and he’s alleging that no one from the university who is involved in investigating it has contacted him, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Last Thursday, Germani claimed that he hadn’t received any formal communication at all from Robinson or anyone else at FAMU regarding the suspension of all activity related to his alleged 9-figure gift as the lack of evidence that the money even exists becomes more and more impossible to ignore.
Gerami told the Tallahassee Democrat that he stands by his donation but he’s yet to provide proof of “any appraisal or valuation of the stock.”
Via the Democrat:
He said he was “aware of a few things,” including Shawnta Friday-Stroud’s sudden resignation as vice president for university advancement and executive director of the FAMU Foundation and that an interim director was named.
When asked if FAMU has rescinded the gift, he said, “I haven’t heard that.”
“I have not received information that they were going to pull from the gift (as of May 16),” said Gerami, who said he understands both FAMU Foundation board members and trustees want to see a third-party valuation of the private stock. “It’s premature, and I can’t speak for FAMU and I have no issues with FAMU … My commitment still remains.
“The university and other folks and the media are doing things that are premature because we don’t even have a valuation.”
In case you’re wondering why we’re even talking about the “valuation” of stocks instead of what’s going on with the cash, it’s because, despite Gerami’s claim that “the money is in the bank” at the time of the donation’s announcement, there was never any money deposited in FAMU’s bank. Instead, Gerami reportedly “transferred 14 million shares of stock of indeterminate value that could be worth $300 million or zero dollars, according to one FAMU Foundation board member,” the Democrat reported.
Meanwhile, Black people in the media and on social media have about had it with Gerami and the entire drama he has stirred up with FAMU.
Native Land Podcast Hosts Criticize Gregory Gerami
Source: Mat Hayward / Getty
Former Tallahassee mayor/FAMU alum Andrew Gillum and his co-host Angela Rye had some harsh words for the so-called businessman during an episode of the Native Land podcast, during which Gillum called Gerami a “hoaxter” and explained that he can’t just value the stock of a “non-publicly-traded company” however he wants because stock from such a company essentially “has no value.”
“So, I’m just trying to understand what we’re doing here, cause you know that we’re out here on the front lines of a whole case around fraud where there’s a whole public value,” Rye said.
Rye also noted that “the largest gift to an HBCU in history—before this gift of dust—was $100 million to Spellman from Ronda Stryker and William Johnson,” a billionaire heiress and her husband. She also insinuated that Germani doesn’t look like a man worth hundreds of millions.
“If you can’t afford to buy a new mask, sir, you ain’t got $237 million to give us,” Rye said, adding that Germani just looks “crazy.”
At this point, “crazy” is the word that describes this entire debacle.