The US Olympic team has received the largest donation ever ($100 million) to cover life insurance benefits that match $100,000 payments to those who win spots at Team USA starting next year.
The donations to the US Olympic and Paralympic Foundation come from Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, a finance company focusing on “non-traditional” investment options such as Crypto and Fine Art.
“I don’t think we should prevent elite athletes from entering the new frontier of excellence,” Stevens said in a statement announcing his contract on Wednesday.
The United States is one of the few countries where governments do not fund Olympic programs or athletes. US teams rely on sponsorship and media transactions (approximately 75-80% of revenue), along with fundraising (10-20%).
It leads to a system filled with Olympic athletes who live near the poverty line while pursuing their sports dreams, and can also retire and get there. Foundation president Christine Walshe said last year that 57% of US athletes earn under $50,000 a year.
“We don’t want athletes to take poverty away when they finish their long, celebrity careers,” USOPF Chairman Jeff Yang said, calling the gift “transformative.”
Stevens’ donations alone are more than twice the $47 million USOPF raised in 2023, when tax records are available. His donations provide the first money for the programme, including:
– Paying a $100,000 subsidized grant over four years to all the Olympians in the US, starting with people on the team next winter competing in Italy. That money can be used for any purpose, and you can access it even if you are late, 20 years after the qualifying Olympics, or once you reach 45.
– Pay $100,000 in benefits to the beneficiary designated upon death.
-Three-visiting these benefits for every Olympics the athlete makes, so those who go three times will win a total of $600,000 benefits.
– For example, you’ll be limited to athletes who are under $1 million a year to avoid diverting their funds to well-paid NBA players and top tennis stars competing against the US.
– Funded at least in 2032 with the goal of exceeding that.
Started in 2013 as the Chair of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the foundation raised approximately $230 million over the four years that ended in 2024, funding direct support for athletes. It was filmed for $500 million over the four years that concluded at the 2028 LA Olympics.
USOPC Chair Jean Sykes called Stevens’ donations “the biggest thing anyone has ever dealt with.”
He said that in addition to the money itself, donations of this magnitude from donors with Stevens background are a symbol of what the Olympics really mean.
“This means it’s valuable to the country, and to those who have the most resources in the country and are responsible for other people who need them,” Sykes said.
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