A billionaire investor has given Harvard University the largest single donation in the school's nearly 400-year history, Reuters reported.

Kenneth Griffin, alumnus and founder of the Citadel hedge fund management company, is has donated $150 million to the Ivy League school to mainly support its financial aid program, benefitting as many as 800 students every year, Reuters reported.

Griffin, who graduated from Harvard University 25 years ago, described the gift in a statement as "an investment in the next generation of leaders as we continue to break down barriers to an outstanding education."

"It's about having a chance to play a part in helping to ensure the next generation of leaders in America has access to the finest institution in the world," Griffin, started his investing career from his dorm room and founded the Chicago-based Citadel fund a year after graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics, told CNN.

The donation will establish a cohort of 200 Griffin scholarship recipients, and provide matching funds through the new Griffin Leadership Challenge Fund for Financial Aid for 600 new scholarships to inspire other alumni and friends to contribute to Harvard College's financial aid program, university officials said in a statement.

"It is extremely important that students of all backgrounds have the opportunity to challenge themselves, learn to solve complex problems, and ultimately better our world," Griffin said in a statement. "My goal with this gift is to help ensure that Harvard's need-blind admission policy continues, and that our nation's best and brightest have continued access to this outstanding institution."

President of Harvard University Drew Gilpin Faust said Griffin's gift will ensure that the institution create a more vibrant educational environment for its students.

"Ken Griffin's extraordinary philanthropy is opening Harvard's gates wider to the most talented students in the world, no matter their economic circumstances," Faust said in a statement.