Harvard Billionaires Bail Out Alma Mater From Poor Fund Returns

Three years ago, hedge fund billionaire John Paulson offered his alma mater, Harvard Business School, an enormous gift. Nitin Nohria, the school’s dean, responded in a way that would shock most other charitable organizations: Thanks, but we don’t need it. Instead, Nohria suggested that Paulson direct the money toward Harvard’s engineering school, according to people familiar with the exchange. So, in 2015, Paulson did just that, giving $400 million, a gift the university called its largest ever.

This embarrassment of riches helped Harvard University raise more than $9 billion in its most recent fundraising campaign. That record haul represents a key achievement of Drew Faust, who steps down this month as Harvard’s 28th president after an 11-year tenure. Among other bequests, she secured $150 million from hedge fund Citadel Advisors’ Ken Griffin, largely for financial aid. Another $50 million came from the family foundation of Ukrainian-born American industrialist and investor Len Blavatnik for biomedical research. The foundation of Glenn Hutchins, co-founder of private equity firm Silver Lake, gave $30 million in part to renovate undergraduate dorms.