HARVARD Vs. WALL STREET MONEY:WHO REALLY MAKES MORE?

Harvard Management Company, which runs the university’s $36 billion endowment, is under fire – again – from a contingent of aging activist alums who object to HMC’s executive paychecks.  The same sexagenarian social-justice warriors from the class of ’69 who drove chief investment officer Jack Meyer out of office in 2005 have now issued an open letter to university president Drew Gilpin Faust alleging that salaries and bonuses of her investment professionals are unconscionable and should be cut.  

We disagree.

Harvard salaries are nothing remarkable compared to those of people running similar amounts of money on Wall Street.  And, if Harvard can’t pay near-Wall Street salaries they can’t reasonably expect to hire and keep the best available talent.

We have tables below with the pay and AUM of 50 top Wall Street CEOs which make that point.