College fund: Harvard's endowment is still huge

4/13/23 8:00PM

Naming rights

‍Harvard’s renaming its Graduate School of Arts and Sciences after Citadel's CEO, Ken Griffin, following his recent $300 million donation. Griffin’s been spreading his wealth through the hallowed halls for years now, with his donations now totaling over half a billion, including a $150 million payment back in 2014.

Huge gifts like Griffin’s are just one of the ways Harvard makes its money. Indeed, its gargantuan endowment fund is almost as storied as its academic credentials at this point, weighing in at a whopping $51 billion as of June 2022.

‍The crimson economy

‍Harvard’s mega-money pot is overseen by its own investment company, the Harvard Management Company, which takes care of the ~14,000 funds that make up the endowment, seeking to generate returns well in excess of its annual contributions to the school’s operating expenses.

Indeed, in 2021 the endowment managers returned 34% on their investments and helped add over $11bn to the fund. 2022 wasn’t as strong and, like many other investment portfolios, the Harvard fund ended the year down, with around ~$2bn wiped from the total.

It’s important to remember that at least some of that loss will have gone towards the soft 5% target that the college aims to draw from the fund each year to cover collegiate operating costs. That’s a major revenue stream for Harvard — in 2022 the endowment's drawdown was roughly double what the college generated from current students.

Tom Jones

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Yum! Brands might have found a potential buyer for Pizza Hut

Yum! is in exclusive talks with private equity firm LongRange Capital about a sale, per reports.

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Costco’s gas stations are breaking records as drivers seek cheaper fuel

Higher prices have pushed many members to the retailer’s pumps for the first time.

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The Trump administration is reportedly planning a 50% made-in-America requirement for USMCA tariff relief

Qualifying for USMCA-related lower tariffs may soon require more US-made vehicle components, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to introduce a 50% US content requirement for vehicles covered by the trade pact to receive lower tariffs. The content would be measured by cost, according to the WSJ.

There currently isn’t any US-specific requirement for those lower tariff rates, but in order to receive preferential tariffs, vehicles are must contain at least 75% regional content (components made in North America). Per Reuters reporting, the Trump admin is seeking to raise the regional requirement to 82%.

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

Overall, Tesla will likely have the easiest time qualifying for any stricter requirements. The automaker’s vehicles contained the highest amount of US/Canadian content in 2025, according to American University research. Ford, GM, and Stellantis all scored lower.

Notably: the underlying government data that many domestic content measurements rely on intentionally combines US and Canadian components, so it’s difficult to know exactly how much of any given vehicle is specifically US-made.

Exclusive | Trump Administration Wants Autos Under USMCA to Be at Least 50% Made in America

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

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The $640,000 Luce makes the average Ferrari look like a bargain

Put aside the shape; put aside the smoothing out of Ferrari’s iconic sharp edges; put aside, even, the calls from former Chairman and President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo to “take the Prancing Horse off.” On the grounds of price alone, Luce detractors might have a point.

By now, many of us will have read the criticisms of Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle, as the Luce — which was unveiled to the world earlier this week and promptly saw the company’s shares crash out in New York and Milan — gets subtly shaded by competitors online and not-so-subtly shaded by basically everyone else.

What makes all of this worse for Ferrari is that, even by the luxury car maker’s notoriously high standards, they’ve slapped a pretty hefty price tag on the Luce, and the company’s CEO, Benedetto Vigna, has already been forced to defend the €550,000 ($640,000) price point, saying yesterday that it’s “fair to pay for innovation,” per Reuters.

While Ferrari’s cars have been getting more expensive of late, as recently as 2022, Ferrari’s average revenue per car sold was around $340,000. At nearly twice that price, this new electric model is obviously proving a little much (visually, conceptually, and financially) for many loyal and long-standing fans of the Prancing Horse to stomach.