Billionaire Juices Speech with $1,000 to Each UMass Dartmouth Graduate

Oprah Winfrey's got nothing on Robert Hale Jr., a telecom billionaire, who didn't hand out car keys to UMass Dartmouth grads ... but, instead, handed them cold hard cash -- for themselves and others.

You could say Hale spiced up his commencement speech to the graduates when he announced that each of them would be getting $1,000 when they came onstage to get their diplomas ... but there was one important caveat.

Hale, who founded Granite Telecommunications, told them Thursday they'd be getting 2 envelopes ... one with $500 to keep for themselves, and a second one with a $500 check they had to donate to someone in need, or a charity.

During the rainy ceremony, he told the class of about 1,200 that he and his wife found “the greatest joys we’ve had in our life have been the gift of giving.”

Although, Forbes estimates his net worth around $5.4 billion ... Hale also told the audience he'd had his share of ups and downs through his career, including, at one point, losing $1 billion in an instant.