Harvard’s colossal endowment just got super-sized, by a cool 21.1 percent. This brings the University’s coffers to $22.6 billion, dwarfing the 2002 Gross Domestic Products of such financially sluggish countries as Luxembourg, Bolivia and Cambodia.Most of us will never have so much money in our lifetimes (though for some budding entrepreneurs it’s not out of the question). In fact, in 2004, Johnny Harvard would only rank as the fourth richest person in the world, according to Forbes—right ahead of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (20 billion), but well behind Bill Gates (48 billion). But how much is Harvard’s money really worth in everyday terms? Let FM crunch the numbers for you (all figures, naturally, are in dollars signed by El Presidente Larry H. Summers):
Cost of large Chicken Margherita pizza at Bertucci’s: $17.99
Number of said pizzas Harvard’s endowment buys you: 1,256,253,474 (1.25 billion)
Cost of course pack for Literature & Arts B-51, First Nights: $46
Number of these course packs Harvard’s endowment buys you: 491,304,347 (491 million)
Cost of round trip to Boston on the T: $2.50
Number of trips Harvard could buy: 9,040,000,000 (9 billion)
Cost of Boston’s Big Dig: about $14.6 billion
Number of Big Digs Harvard can afford: about 1.5
Price of first-class tickets to Paris for winter break: $9,435
Number of tickets Harvard’s endowment could buy: 2,395,323 (2.3 million)
Price paid for the Empire State Building in 2002: $7.5 million
Number of times Harvard’s endowment could have paid that over: 393
Auction record for a painting (Van Gogh’s “Portrait of Dr Gachet”): $82.5 million
Number of these canvases Harvard’s endowment could bid on: 273
Hourly living wage without health benefits for Cambridge, MA (1999): $11.87
Number of hours Harvard’s endowment would pay for: 1,903,959,562 (1.9 billion)
Cost of attending Harvard in 2004-2005: roughly $43,500
Number of students Harvard could sponsor fully: 519,540
