The Donald R. Wilson Jr. Family Foundation was established in Chicago in 2018 by Donald R. Wilson Jr. as a private foundation. Wilson is founder and CEO of global trading firm DRW, a donor to the University of Chicago and its climate science and policy division,¹ and a major donor to the libertarian Cato Institute.^{2 3 4}

Founder

The Donald R. Wilson Jr. Family Foundation is a private foundation established by Donald R. Wilson Jr. in 2018. He was noted as the foundation’s trustee in its 2024 tax return.²

Wilson graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in economics in 1988. In 1992, he founded proprietary trading firm DRW and grew it into a global firm with over 1,100 employees in its Chicago office and with additional U.S.-based offices in Austin, Texas; Greenwich, Connecticut; Houston, Texas; and New York, New York. Outside of the United States, DRW had offices in Amsterdam, London, Montreal, Singapore, and Tel Aviv.^{5 6}

Wilson was married to Laurie Wilson for 17 years before divorcing in 2013. They have four children.⁷  He is a competitive sailor and won the M32 World sailing championship in 2019, 2021, and 2022. He founded the Chicago Match Race Center and was chairman of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Chicago. ^{5 6}

As of 2025, he was still a trustee of the University of Chicago and was on the board of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation.⁵  He is a co-founder and at the time was a board member of Digital Asset Holdings; the founder of FIA Principal Traders Group; co-founder of Eris Innovations, ErisX, and Silicon Data; and at the time an advisory board member for Green Key Technologies.^{3 8}

Financials and Grants

In 2024, the Donald R. Wilson Jr. Family Foundation reported $3,150,646 in revenue and $4,034,698 in expenses. It typically generates its revenue through the sales of assets.²

In 2024, the foundation’s largest grant of $3,100,000 was paid to the University of Chicago. It also granted $400,000 to the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and $250,000 to the Cato Institute. Smaller amounts were granted to the Chicago Yacht Club and the U.S. Sailing Foundation.⁹

The Donald R. Wilson Jr. Family Foundation has donated $450,000 to the Cato Institute since 2022. The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C. that envisions a “free and open society.”^{10 11}  Other donors to the institute include the Center for Independent Thought, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and the Unite America Institute.¹²

The University of Chicago had received over $9.2 million in donations from the Donald R. Wilson Jr. Family Foundation as of 2025.¹⁰ It provided the initial foundational gift for the establishment of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth and funding for six professorships in climate economics and policy. Another donor to the Institute is Michael P. Polsky, the founder and CEO of renewable energy firm Invenergy and board member of World Resources Institute.^{13 1}

Climate-Related Investments

Wilson partnered with Michael Greenstone at the University of Chicago to develop Climate Vault. Greenstone was the director of the University’s Becker Friedman Institute as of 2025. He was previously the chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration.¹⁴  Climate Vault purchases carbon pollution permits and takes them out of circulation so that they cannot be used. It also invests in organizations that do research and development of carbon removal technologies.^{6 15}  Wilson’s firm DRW became the first “carbon neutral trading firm” in 2020 using Climate Vault.¹⁶

1. “More than $125 Million Raised to Support New University of Chicago Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth.” The University of Chicago Institute for Climate & Sustainable Growth. March 11, 2025. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://climate.uchicago.edu/news/more-than-125-million-raised-to-support-new-university-of-chicago-institute-for-climate-and-sustainable-growth/
2. Donald R Wilson Jr Family Foundation. Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF – Part I). 2024.
3. LinkedIn – Don Wilson. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/donwilsonjr/
4. Donald R Wilson Jr Family Foundation. Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF). Part XV Line 3. 2024.
5. “Donald R. Wilson, Jr.” The University of Chicago Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://bfi.uchicago.edu/scholar/donald-r-wilson-jr/
6. “Don Wilson.” DRW. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.drw.com/updates/insights/about-don
7. Shia Kapos. “High-profile trader Don Wilson seeks divorce after 17-year marriage.” Crain’s Chicago Business. December 17, 2013. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20131217/BLOGS03/131219829/don-wilson-of-chicago-s-drw-trading-group-seeks-divorce
8. “Don Wilson.” FIA. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fia.org/hall-fame/articles/don-wilson
9. Donald R Wilson Jr Family Foundation. Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF – Part XIV). 2024.
10. “Donald R Wilson Jr Family Foundation 990 Report.” Instrumentl. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/donald-r-wilson-jr-family-foundation
11. “About Cato.” CATO. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.cato.org/about
12. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer search for Cato Institute. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?form%5B%5D=IRS990ScheduleI&q=%22cato+institute%22&sort=best&submit=Apply&year%5B%5D=2023&year%5B%5D=2024
13. LinkedIn – Michael Polsky. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-polsky/
14. “The Experts Behind Our Approach.” Climate Vault. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://climatevault.org/our-team/

15. “About.” Climate Vault. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://climatevault.org/about/
16. “Don Wilson.” DRW. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.drw.com/updates/ihttps://www.linkedin.com/in/donwilsonjr/nsights/about-don