It's that time of year again when Harvard University reveals how much money it pays staffers in the investment office. This time the mighty Crimson revealed that in 2009 Harvard Management Company CEO Jane Mendillo made $3.5 million, and the internal portfolio managers on her staff made a combined $25.3 million. As per usual, this will lead to comments from the peanut gallery about whether the pay is excessive or what the savings would be using external management. But is $25 million really such a big deal for a $27 billion endowment?
Raj Rajaratnam probably paid more in legal fees during his insider trading trial. Not that worked out well for him. Right now a carton of cigarettes might be more valuable based on where he's likely to be heading.
Imagine what Bernie Madoff could have done with $25 million? He'd turn that into $100 million in a matter of hours, just give him a pen and a ledger, voila, you've got some unaudited paper gains! Good enough for the owners of the New York Mets, apparently.
Of course there's always Charlie Sheen. When he's not busy fighting trolls and warlocks, and drinking tiger's blood, Charlie can party with the best of them. We'd imagine his annual entertainment bill must be approaching $25 million. After all, his faux friends don't come cheap.
Hampshire College. This school is nestled in Amherst, Mass., and has a $25 million endowment. So basically the entire school's worth equals one year's pay for the Crimson gang. We'd ask Hampshire's what the school would do with another $25 million, but it would likely cause too much fainting.
So there you have it, the Harvard team's a bargain. But if you eat lunch with any of them, don't feel so bad if they pick up the tab.