If anything, it could have been in Chicago but Kenny ran to Miami after spending a small fortune trying to install another puppet in the Illinois governor’s office after his previous one, Bruce Rauner, ran the state into the gutter.
What a complete waste of human capacity if so.
The world is competitive. It is what it is.
To have the power to affect change you need power.
It was suppose to also include a large campus in the Loop but that floundered for years and was eventually cancelled when UIUC decided to instead be a partner in the new quantum computing center on the south side.
The Quantum Exchange being in South Side occured becuase it's tied to Argonne, Fermilab, and by extension UChicago.
Once you climb high enough the ladder everyone basically has the exact same interests, especially in cities like Chicago.
Something something 1871, ChicagoNEXT, Techstars Chicago, UChicago, Northwestern, UIUC, Purdue
It's the same way Penny (JB's sister and former Secretary of Commerce under Obama) and Ken donate oodles to Harvard because it is their undergrad alma mater (eg. Pritzker Commons, Pritzker Hall, Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences).
Also, Ken couldn't control Rauner given that Rauner was equally wealthy (he founded and chaired GTCR with Carl Thoma of Thoma Bravo fame).
Pritzker and Rauner is basically two sides of the same coin where both were essentially retired but in the same circles and decided to compete because of personal ambition.
If someone wanted to live hedonically, you don't need to be a billionaire - a $15-20M net worth would be more than enough.
Those who make the jump from VHNWI to UHNWI have a whole different mindset and viciousness.
JB's philanthropy tends to target Duke and Northwestern (his alma mater).