Texas Woman’s University received $30 million from alumna Merrilee for its business school … (+)
Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, has received a record donation of $30 million from Merrilee Kick, a TWU graduate who is the founder and CEO of cocktail maker BuzzBallz.
The donation will benefit several priorities of the university’s business school. It will fund an institute focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, establish an endowed chair, and create an entrepreneur-in-residence program. The donation will also be used to fund the construction of a new building for the school. In recognition, the university plans to name its business school after Kick.
“This gift gives us the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the innovative power and business acumen that women bring to our globally competitive economy,” Texas Woman Chancellor Carine Feyten said in the university’s announcement. “I am doubly pleased that this extraordinary gift comes from Merrilee, a shining example of our pioneering spirit and an alumna who rose to become a titan of entrepreneurship.”
Kick’s donation is the largest single gift to Texas Woman’s University in its nearly 125-year history and pushed the university across the finish line of its comprehensive capital campaign, whose goal was to raise $125 million in private support.
Kick, a former teacher at Plano West Senior High School, earned her MBA from Texas Woman’s in 2009. Her final project for that program was actually developing the business plan that would eventually become the foundation for the company she founded that year – Buzzballz/Southern Champion, now known for its spherical, shatter-proof containers and cocktails with colorful names like Forbidden Apple, Strawberrry ‘Rita and Cran Blaster.
“I was sitting by the pool drinking a cocktail while grading papers and thought, I shouldn’t have a glass out here by the pool – I need something unbreakable,” Kick said in a 2019 interview with TWU. “So I came up with the idea of a round plastic cocktail ball and looked to see if anything like that already existed, but there was nothing. That’s how it all started.”
“My MBA from TWU enabled me to write a solid business plan for what became BuzzBallz, a billion-dollar company,” Kick said in the university’s press release Thursday. “As a former educator and child of educators, teaching the next generation is important to our future. As my parents said, ‘A good teacher makes all the difference.’ I’ve had some good teachers – and parents – who really cared about me and my success, and I’m committed to making that possible for others as well, to make the world a better place.”
Kick, whose net worth is estimated at $400 million according to Forbes, sold her company to Sazerac this year. The deal is estimated to be worth at least $500 million. She will remain CEO.
