Seth Alexander, who runs the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s endowment, has produced long-term returns that beat many of his rivals. Yet, he was compensated less.
Among the 10 wealthiest private schools, MIT bested eight of nine endowments in the five years through June 2017. Alexander received a $2.1 million pay package in 2016, ranking him at the bottom. The 10 had an average $4.3 million package, according to data compiled by Bloomberg using the schools’ most recent tax filings. The schools either declined to comment or didn’t respond to requests for comment.
One competitor Alexander didn’t surpass was David Swensen, the longtime investing chief at Yale. Swensen is credited with training managers including Alexander and those at Stanford, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania.
Pay packages include salary, bonuses, benefits and deferred compensation that pay out in future years. As a result, deferred compensation can get double counted because they are reported again in the year the manager receives the pay.
Compensation is for calendar year 2016 while the fiscal-year tax returns cover 12 months through June 30, 2017, or Aug. 31 for Stanford and Northwestern. Bloomberg requested the returns through the schools. The forms are filed to the Internal Revenue Service each spring and lag a year.
Here’s the 2016 compensation packages for the 10 endowment chiefs:
Harvard: Stephen Blyth received $6.8 million for six months through June 2016 at the $37.1 billion endowment. He departed for personal reasons after 18 months on the job and was replaced by Narv Narvekar, who came from Columbia.
Notre Dame: Scott Malpass has been CIO of the $11.8 billion endowment since 1989. Package: $6.2 million. Adjusting for deferred compensation, the university said the package would be $4.5 million.
Princeton: Andrew Golden has led the $23.8 billion endowment since 1995. Package: $5.5 million.
Yale: Swensen has been at the helm of Yale’s $27.2 billion fund since 1985. Package: $4.7 million.