Oh the story behind that is a wild ride from start to finish. Babson's sister drowned when they were children, and he decided the real reason that happened is anti-gravity technology wasn't sufficiently advanced to prevent her drowning. He spent a large amount of his philanthropy funding anti-gravity research for the rest of his life.
Edit:
Just realized this is mentioned in the article you linked.
Edit: Just realized this is mentioned in the article you linked.