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Harvard receives $400MM endowment for Engineering and Applied Sciences

BobPSU92

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May 6, 2015
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Their largest gift ever. I read about it on cnbc.com. It was a headline on their home page a little while ago.
 
About 1.3 % or their endowment Harvard won't even notice. What do they do with that money ? Contribute to the Clinton foundation ?

The size of the gift is impressive, but their endowment is ridiculous.
 
I know the CFO for the U of P. So, the rich do get richer! But, in the mean time "we have fun".
 
It's wonderful to be largely endowed, but if it's not used to it's fullest, then what good is it? It won't bring pleasure to those who want to take advantage of the endowment. Actually, if only a small portion of the endowment is used, then it's cheating those who desire it.
 
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Their largest gift ever. I read about it on cnbc.com. It was a headline on their home page a little while ago.


Yup, from John Paulson. Makes $350mm now the second largest gift.
 
Emblematic of American society: The rich get richer. The sad part is that money just accumulates unused as some sleazy crooked parasitic Wall Street fat-cat bought himself some fame as a "philanthropist".
As usual, Malcolm Gladwell got it right.
http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-goes-nuts-on-john-paulsons-harvard-donation-2015-6
I am not one to tell someone else what to do with their own money. That said, Mr. Gladwell's net worth is estimated at 30 million which I believe is about 29 million more than he needs. I suggest he give the rest to the poor. If he needs help in selecting a charity, I will assist him at no cost.
 
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I am not one to tell someone else what to do with their own money. That said, Mr. Gladwell's net worth is estimated at 30 million which I believe is about 29 million more than he needs. I suggest he give the rest to the poor. If he needs help in selecting a charity, I will assist him at no cost.


Nice :)
 
I am not one to tell someone else what to do with their own money. That said, Mr. Gladwell's net worth is estimated at 30 million which I believe is about 29 million more than he needs. I suggest he give the rest to the poor. If he needs help in selecting a charity, I will assist him at no cost.


$30mm? Probably not.
 
Site is a collection of clueless amateurs.
Perhaps, but Mr. Malcolm is a best selling author (5 New York Times best sellers) and speaker. Based upon my own investigation of his background, I believe he is better off than 99.9% of the people on this earth. In 2008, he bought a 2nd apartment in the West Village for 1.5 million. His 1st one was then valued at around 1.4 Million. According to various reports, he charges between 40K and 80 K each time he speaks and he speaks as often as 25 times a year. You can do the math. Whatever his worth, in my opinion it is more than he needs. Since he feels competent to tell someone else what to do with their money, so do I. I respectfully suggest he donate 50% of his annual income to the poor. He would still be making well over 500K which should be enough for any man. Lest you think I am suggesting Mr. Malcolm is a hypocrite, that is exactly what I am suggesting. I really don't care much about Mr. Malcom, but hypocrisy always pisses me off. You can have the last word.
 
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Perhaps, but Mr. Malcolm is a best selling author (5 New York Times best sellers) and speaker. Based upon my own investigation of his background, I believe he is better off than 99.9% of the people on this earth. In 2008, he bought a 2nd apartment in the West Village for 1.5 million. His 1st one was then valued at around 1.4 Million. According to various reports, he charges between 40K and 80 K each time he speaks and he speaks as often as 25 times a year. You can do the math. Whatever his worth, in my opinion it is more than he needs. Since he feels competent to tell someone else what to do with their money, so do I. I respectfully suggest he donate 50% of his annual income to the poor. He would still be making well over 500K which should be enough for any man. Lest you think I am suggesting Mr. Malcolm is a hypocrite, that is exactly what I am suggesting. I really don't care much about Mr. Malcom, but hypocrisy always pisses me off. You can have the last word.


Ever hear of mortgages? Also, Gladwell often charges less than the going rate when he speaks, sometimes does it gratis. And do you know as much about his charitable giving, a subject which you seem to have overlooked, as you do about his net worth?
 
Ever hear of mortgages? Also, Gladwell often charges less than the going rate when he speaks, sometimes does it gratis. And do you know as much about his charitable giving, a subject which you seem to have overlooked, as you do about his net worth?

He either owns or mortgages $3M in apartments in New York. He had the choice of either giving that $3M or $3M worth of monthly mtg payments to pay for his apartments, or to help the poor. He chose the former, but now wants to judge what someone else does with their money. What is the exact threshold where its okay to live lavishly and spend freely before you start being judged for not using that money to help the poor instead?
 
I am not one to tell someone else what to do with their own money. That said, Mr. Gladwell's net worth is estimated at 30 million which I believe is about 29 million more than he needs. I suggest he give the rest to the poor. If he needs help in selecting a charity, I will assist him at no cost.

I don't agree with Mr. Gladwell on this topic, but he did write the best assessment of the Sandusky situation of anyone in the media.
 
He either owns or mortgages $3M in apartments in New York. He had the choice of either giving that $3M or $3M worth of monthly mtg payments to pay for his apartments, or to help the poor. He chose the former, but now wants to judge what someone else does with their money. What is the exact threshold where its okay to live lavishly and spend freely before you start being judged for not using that money to help the poor instead?

So you know how much Gladwell contributes to charity? And since when is a vow of poverty required to comment.? While Gladwell's apartment is, by accounts, nice, it doesn't qualify as lavish by NYC standards. $2.5mm, unfortunately, doesn't get there.
 
So you know how much Gladwell contributes to charity? And since when is a vow of poverty required to comment.? While Gladwell's apartment is, by accounts, nice, it doesn't qualify as lavish by NYC standards. $2.5mm, unfortunately, doesn't get there.
By any standard, Mr. Gladwell lives better than 99.9 percent of people on earth. I have no idea what he contributes to charity, nor do I care. Likewise, if some billionaire wants to give Harvard a ton of money, who the hell is he to be critical? One could argue that Mr. Gladwell, whose shilling for the tobacco industry has been widely reported and criticized, has thereby caused more damage to the poor than any billions of dollars could ever repair. In his book "The Tipping Point" he blamed children for becoming addicted to tobacco. Gladwell is the same nut case that wants to ban college football. He is a world class hypocrite, and he knows it, but it pays well and so he shamelessly carries on. OK, I said I was done with Mr. Gladwell, but I came back and posted again. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite, in which case Mr. Gladwell and I have something in common. Now I am absolutely, positively, done with this topic. I will move on to more important matters, like who is the fastest mascot.
 
By any standard, Mr. Gladwell lives better than 99.9 percent of people on earth. I have no idea what he contributes to charity, nor do I care. Likewise, if some billionaire wants to give Harvard a ton of money, who the hell is he to be critical? One could argue that Mr. Gladwell, whose shilling for the tobacco industry has been widely reported and criticized, has thereby caused more damage to the poor than any billions of dollars could ever repair. In his book "The Tipping Point" he blamed children for becoming addicted to tobacco. Gladwell is the same nut case that wants to ban college football. He is a world class hypocrite, and he knows it, but it pays well and so he shamelessly carries on. OK, I said I was done with Mr. Gladwell, but I came back and posted again. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite, in which case Mr. Gladwell and I have something in common. Now I am absolutely, positively, done with this topic. I will move on to more important matters, like who is the fastest mascot.

If living better than 99.9% of the people on earth is the standard, then few of us here can render an opinion.
 
Other than the "size of the endowment" part of this thread, how much of the rest of this thread is tongue in cheek. I just find it hugely inappropriate for any person to judge what another person "needs" or how much "enough" is.

Whether it was Karl Marx or Louis Blanc who first said it "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" is complete Bull shyte, and hugely demotivating to high achievers.

Just think of our 94 team. What if Kyle Brady said "no need for me to block, Kijana's a great back and our offensive line is good enough. I'm taking this play off. We'll still win anyway." If that were the prevailing thought, they'd have been a 500 team.
 
If living better than 99.9% of the people on earth is the standard, then few of us here can render an opinion.

Exactly. That's why I don't judge like Gladwell does. And what Gladwell does for charity is irrelevant to the point. Did Gladwell check on Paulsons charitable contributions first?
 
Exactly. That's why I don't judge like Gladwell does. And what Gladwell does for charity is irrelevant to the point. Did Gladwell check on Paulsons charitable contributions first?


Why would he need to check? He was specifically criticizing the destination of the $400mm.
 
I don't agree with Mr. Gladwell on this topic, but he did write the best assessment of the Sandusky situation of anyone in the media.

So you do not feel there is a better use of the $400 MM than giving it to an elitist university with an endowment in excess of $36B?

A person can do whatever they want with their money (so long as it is legal), but I think it is fair to question whether they are making the best use of that money. There's no question that education should be a priority, but does Harvard need that $400MM?
 
I am not one to tell someone else what to do with their own money. That said, Mr. Gladwell's net worth is estimated at 30 million which I believe is about 29 million more than he needs. I suggest he give the rest to the poor. If he needs help in selecting a charity, I will assist him at no cost.
That's all fine and dandy but the issue is not Gladwell's money.
And since the money contributed to this so-called "charity" is tax deductible and it could be argued was made from a hidden tax on everyone's financial transactions, at least part of it is our money.
 
So you do not feel there is a better use of the $400 MM than giving it to an elitist university with an endowment in excess of $36B?

A person can do whatever they want with their money (so long as it is legal), but I think it is fair to question whether they are making the best use of that money. There's no question that education should be a priority, but does Harvard need that $400MM?

I think it's irrelevant. A person can use their money however they like. The "best" use is however that person wants it to be used.

Anyway, the point of my post was to say that regardless of how anyone views Gladwell's opinion on this issue, he wrote an excellent piece on the Sandusky scandal something that was actually fair and balanced. And he's a neutral, respected party so I often link to that article when people are open minded and want to understand the true realities of the Sandusky situation.
 
Why would he need to check? He was specifically criticizing the destination of the $400mm.

And fairgambit specifically attacked Gladwell's net worth and apartment prices, yet you felt he should check on Gladwell's donations. Why can't fairgambit make the same attack as Gladwell without having to check donation amounts?
 
And fairgambit specifically attacked Gladwell's net worth and apartment prices, yet you felt he should check on Gladwell's donations. Why can't fairgambit make the same attack as Gladwell without having to check donation amounts?

Scroll back. fairgambit posted that Gladwell has $29mm more than he needs and can spend $3mm on an apartment and, thus, isn't sufficiently generous to be critical if Paulson.
 
Actually, I think Fairgambit is quite correct when he intimates that some people are too endowed for their own good. At least, that is what I think he is saying.
 
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