After selling her ready-to-drink cocktail company BuzzBallz to Sazerac, Merrilee Kick, who earned her MBA from Texas Woman’s University, has gifted $30 million to her alma mater. The single largest gift in the institution’s history has capped TWU’s $125 million “Dream Big” campaign. The funding will be put toward an institute focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, an endowed chair, and an entrepreneur-in-residence program.
“I was a teacher, my parents were teachers, and their parents were teachers,” Kicks says. “So, to me, educating people is the difference between poverty and wealth. Education is the key to freedom. If you’re not educated, sometimes you can succeed through grit and willpower, but many times people without an education cannot get out of this disparity.”
TWU’s college of business will now be named in Kick’s honor, and the gift fast-tracks plans to construct a new building for the college. The institution will continue raising funds for the “Dream Big” campaign despite reaching its fundraising goal two years early. It will now strive to raise funds directed toward health sciences, athletics, and a Dallas campus expansion.
“This gift affords us an opportunity to shine a huge light on the innovation and business acumen women bring to the table in our globally competitive economy,” Texas Woman’s Chancellor Carine Feyten said. “I am doubly pleased that this extraordinary gift comes from Merrilee, a shining example of our pioneering spirit and an alumna who has risen to the level of entrepreneurial titan.”
While earning her MBA at TWU, Kick developed the business plan for BuzzBallz as her thesis—in fact, it was for a company called PartyBallz. “For a final capstone project, I came up with the idea for ready-to-drink cocktails, but most people on my team didn’t really contribute that much,” Kick said with a laugh. “So, I took it and ran with the project, then ran with the business.”
Kick is staying on as the CEO of BuzzBallz for the next four years, as the company slowly integrates as a Sazerac brand. Forbes estimated the deal was worth at least $500 million. Kick signed an NDA in relation to the sale price, but told D CEO, “Forbes missed the mark.”
In terms of future philanthropic giving, Kick is going national.
“My parents founded a science institute 40 years ago in Montana, now known by the Montana Learning Center,” she says. “It focuses on teachings on STEM, NASA, and astronomy, so I will be giving to them. I’ll also look to give to entrepreneurial science students in general.”
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