Florida Atlantic University's College of Business yesterday stripped life insurance guru Barry Kaye's name from the school.
Trustees at the school voted to remove his name from the Barry Kaye School of Finance, Insurance and Economics following his failure to come through on a $16 million pledge he had made to the Boca Raton, Fla., institution, according to the Palm Beach Post.
While the school is scrapping his name from its institutions, Mr. Kaye has agreed to donate $1 million toward the Barry Kaye Program of Risk Management and Insurance, according to documents from the school.
Mr. Kaye had donated $3.9 million in endowments to the College of Business alone, which adds up to $7.8 million after state matches, according to documents from FAU. It's the largest gift the College of Business has received, according th the documents.
Mr. Kaye, who has been in the insurance industry for more than 40 years, is the founder of Barry Kaye Associates Inc. of Boca Raton and has written a series of books, including “Die Rich and Tax Free” (Dearborn Financial Publishing Inc., 2007).
Both the firm and Mr. Kaye's son, Howard, were
sued last month by an 81-year-old Ohio man who said in his complaint that he was encouraged to buy a $5 million life policy and sell it in the life settlements market. After paying $322,118 in premiums over two years, the client was stuck with the policy when Howard Kaye and the firm were unable to locate a buyer.
The Ohio Insurance Department had said that it is looking into the claims in the lawsuit.
A call to Florida Atlantic University wasn't immediately returned.
A spokeswoman at Barry Kaye Associates said the firm had no comment.
