A Russian-born entrepreneur and private equity investor whose career was launched at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business is paying it forward with a $100 million donation to the executive MBA program that made it possible.
Konstantin Sokolov, 49, who is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his graduation this month, is hoping the gift will open doors and change lives for the next generation of business leaders, as it did for him, a young Russian immigrant at the dawn of the new millennium.
“Chicago Booth played a very important role in my life,” Sokolov told the Tribune. “The business school served as a foundation of my career success and then my success as an entrepreneur.”
The gift, announced Tuesday, is among the largest ever made to Chicago Booth. It will benefit the executive MBA program, which allows professionals to continue working while earning their graduate degree. Booth offers the 21-month program in Hong Kong, London and in Chicago at the Gleacher Center in Streeterville, where Sokolov attended classes.
In recognition of the gift, the executive MBA program at Chicago Booth will be renamed after Sokolov.
“With Konstantin’s remarkable commitment, the Sokolov Executive MBA Program will continue to educate future generations of leaders, giving students the insight and skills they need to move people and organizations to success,” Madhav Rajan, Booth’s dean, said in a news release. “This gift will help the school further adapt and refine its offerings to meet the evolving global business landscape.”
The founder of IJS Investments, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on telecommunications, energy and financial infrastructure, Sokolov’s projects include the largest mobile communications company in Armenia and a clean energy consortium linking solar power from Morocco to Europe.
Raised by an academic single mother in a Russian Jewish family with few resources and living in a 200-square-foot St. Petersburg apartment during the waning days of the Soviet Union, Sokolov aspired to a better life and a successful career.
“We literally had nothing,” Sokolov said. “There was no family wealth of any kind.”
With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, educational and career options opened up a new world for Sokolov. After earning a master’s degree in mathematics and computer science from St. Petersburg State University, Sokolov immigrated to Columbus, Ohio, in 1997 when he was 21 to join a small telecom company.
The company was soon acquired by Qwest Communications, a fast-growing, Denver-based telecom giant that is now part of Lumen. Sokolov relocated to Denver in 1999.
In 2002, looking to advance his career, Sokolov began exploring executive MBA programs. He applied to only one: Chicago Booth.
He continued working at Qwest while attending the Booth executive MBA program from 2003 to 2005 at the Gleacher Center, the University of Chicago’s 50,000-square-foot glass structure rising up six stories along the Chicago River near Michigan Avenue.
Initially, he commuted from Denver weekly to attend classes. Months before graduation, he moved to Chicago, with plans to shift the trajectory of his career.
“I loved living in Chicago,” Sokolov said. “I liked the entertainment, culture, music, food, and it was a great place to have executive education. That’s why I moved there.”
Sokolov formed a lifetime bond with the city, his classmates and Booth, even as his career and personal life took him far from Chicago. His first job as a newly minted MBA was with Centrica, a British energy company, and in 2007 he relocated to London.
The married father of two daughters now makes his homes in Miami, Switzerland and Malta, but comes to Chicago about six times a year for business and personal trips. He often looks up his classmates for dinner when he is in town.
“I’m still very close with my classmates from Chicago,” Sokolov said. “We typically go to Gibsons or Hugo’s Frog Bar.”
Last year, Chicago Booth renamed a student lounge at Gleacher after Sokolov gave a previous $1.5 million gift. This year, his generosity increased exponentially following a series of meetings with Rajan, Booth’s dean since 2017.
Rajan and Sokolov began discussing the endowment of the executive MBA program over a dinner in Hong Kong in October, the school said.
In January, Sokolov and several friends from the University of Chicago, including Rajan, attended Ohio State’s 34-23 win over Notre Dame in Atlanta to claim the national football championship.
Sokolov reached an agreement with Rajan to make the $100 million donation in March, according to the school.
“He played a very important role in this gift,” Sokolov said. “It was the meeting of the minds. We love spending time together. We shared backgrounds and values, and it was a very good conversation.”
In 2008, David Booth made a $300 million donation to the graduate school of business, which renamed itself in honor of the gift, the largest in the history of the University of Chicago. Entrepreneur Ross Stevens donated $100 million to Chicago Booth in 2023 for the school’s Ph.D. program.
Sokolov’s $100 million gift is the largest ever made for Chicago Booth’s executive MBA program, the school said.
The donation represents more than 10% of his net worth, Sokolov said.
On April 25, Sokolov will return to Chicago Booth for his 20th reunion at the Gleacher Center, where the school will formally recognize his gift and the renaming of the executive MBA program.
While it may sound like the triumphant helicopter scene from “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” where the most successful classmate makes an over-the-top appearance, Sokolov remains grounded and grateful for the education he received at Chicago Booth.
“The goal of the school was always to make you think about things, instead of giving you a simple solution,” Sokolov said. “I actually treat my time at school as the best time of my life. It was absolutely instrumental in my success across the board. This is the best decision I made.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
