Overview
- CERN said this is its first project to receive private backing, naming the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt fund and Xavier Niel as contributors; Heise also reports John Elkann.
- The €860 million in commitments would cover only a small share of the first‑phase budget, estimated at about €16 billion.
- Formal approval from CERN’s 25 member states is still pending, with a go‑or‑no‑go decision expected in 2028.
- The plan envisions a 91 km ring roughly 200 meters underground designed for collision energies up to about 100 TeV, with operations targeted in the 2040s.
- The current 27 km Large Hadron Collider near Geneva remains in service and enabled the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson.