Darla Moore

Credit: Collection of South Carolina State Museum

Darla Moore (1954-) is vice president of Rainwater, Inc., a private investment firm and founder and chair of the Palmetto Institute, a nonprofit economic research organization. This Lake City native and recognized visionary is described as a Wall Street maverick who is skilled at leveraging deals to her advantage.

Within the last 10 years Moore has used her considerable business acumen to benefit South Carolina’s economic markets and educational institutions. In 1998 she gave $25 million to the University of South Carolina’s College of Business Administration, which is named in her honor. The school’s international business program is world-renowned. Moore’s vision is to cultivate innovation. In 2003 she gave $10 million to the School of Education at Clemson University. In 2004 she pledged $45 million to USC to bolster the university’s endowment and to remodel the Hipp-Close Building.

Moore sits on the board of trustees of her alma mater, the University of South Carolina, as well as the board of the New York University Medical School and Hospital. She is the first woman to be featured on the cover of Fortune Magazine and was named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in American Business.”