'Hope Chicago' Tackling Wealth Gap in U.S. Thanks to Founder Pete Kadens Businessman Pete Kadens Nonprofit To Send 30K Students To College For Free ... I'm Paying It Backward! Exclusive 197 5/27/2022 12:10 AM PT
Gabriel Cooper
Updated on March 06, 2026
He's made his millions, but now, businessman Pete Kadens is taking on the U.S. wealth gap by storm through his nonprofit ... saying he's not paying it forward -- but backward.
Kadens joined "TMZ Live," to talk about his nonprofit Hope Chicago-- which is on its way to being the largest scholarship program in the U.S.
Pete tells us he started the org to send 4,000 high school grads in low-income communities to college -- debt-free. Now, that goal is to send 30,000 students to college with scholarships over the next decade.
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