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A Legacy of Giving
When Jon Huntsman made his unprecedented $40 million gift
to Wharton as a cornerstone of the campaign, he was carrying on a tradition of giving that
affected him personally. As a student, Huntsman received a scholarship established by the
Zellerbach family, which enabled him to attend Wharton.
After graduation, Huntsman went to see William Zellerbach, W'42, to ask for a job at the
Zellerbach family company. "In my interview with Jon," Zellerbach recalled in an interview
on The Campaign for Sustained Leadership video, "I said, 'Jon, you do not want to go to
work for a large corporation. You have too much on the ball. Go to work for yourself.' "
Huntsman was crestfallen. "I almost cried. Here was a company I was planning to spend
my life with. Here was the chairman of the board of that company telling me I would be
better off somewhere else. It took me years to understand and appreciate the greatness of
Bill Zellerbach. He gave me much more than a scholarship."
Zellerbach was not mistaken in his assessment of Huntsman's potential. Huntsman went
on to build the largest privately held petrochemical and plastics business in the world, proceeding
to carry on the legacy of contributing to Wharton's future. "Wharton was lucky
enough to get a man of that caliber," Zellerbach said, "and Wharton was lucky enough that
that man wanted to give back to those who helped make him a success."
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