Explaining the Rise and Fall of Harvard’s Endowment
Why a star university fund might lose its crown.
Harvard University buildings
Photographer: Kevin Fleming/The Image Bank UnreleasedFor years, the Harvard Endowment has easily been the largest endowment of any university. But as of right now, it’s at risk of losing its crown to the University of Texas. So what happened? It’s a combination of things including organizational tumult, external controversies over the university, controversy about the endowment’s model itself, and other factors. And of course, Texas has unique tailwinds — including a huge energy windfall — that aren’t easily replicated elsewhere. On this episode we speak with Bloomberg’s higher education reporter Janet Lorin about what’s changed at this huge source of capital. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Key insights from the pod:
The significance of university endowments — 5:31
The history of Harvard’s endowment — 6:14
Why Harvard endowment managers are under scrutiny — 9:52
The pay model of Harvard’s endowment — 10:49
Investing in alts like hedge funds and PE — 15:40
A succession of Harvard Management Company CEOs — 19:08
Divesting or pausing investment in natural resources — 20:58
University of Texas and oil money — 22:33
The structure of UTIMCO — 26:29
The drop in Harvard donations — 29:44