Harvard Is So Rich
Harvard, a school in Boston that your boss's boss went to, made Fortune 500 money last year. More profit than Target, and just less than AIG. Just how rich is Harvard?
Harvard is this rich: its endowment now stands at $32.7 billion, up more than 11% in the past year, according to Bloomberg. Harvard made more money last year than Halliburton. Ain't that a kick?
Also, right now, Harvard is asking for more money. They are asking for donations. In fact, they are seeking out $6.5 billion in donations, the largest university fundraising campaign ever.
Some of that money would go into important scientific research. That is good. And much of the money would go into things like building new dorms, for Harvard students.
May we gently suggest that—if you are the sort of person in a position to donate a lot of money—your donations could be better directed not to an Ivy League school, or to the opera, but to a charity that would actually use it to directly alleviate a huge amount of human suffering, right now. The wretched, suffering people of the world would certainly be gracious for it.
Harvard already has a lot of money.