Millions for Oxford

A technology entrepreneur who lives on his own private island off Bermuda yesterday became the latest wealthy benefactor to Oxford University, after his pledge to give the institution US$50 million ($70 million) if an equal sum could be raised by like-minded philanthropists and donors led to a flood of recession-busting contributions.

The US$100 million fund set up by Dr James Martin, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author who is considered one of the world's foremost computer scientists, will be used to finance a catalogue of research projects aimed at resolving pressing global problems.