Harvard’s Largest-in-the-Nation Endowment Surpasses $53B

Harvard, already the nation's wealthiest university, grew its endowment to more than $53 billion in the latest fiscal year, the Ivy League school reported in its annual financial report released Thursday.

The $11.3 billion in growth over the the previous fiscal year was driven by a 33.6% return on its investments.

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N.P. "Narv" Narvekar, the CEO of Harvard Management Co., which manages the endowment, said public and private equity markets drove what he called "tremendous returns."

"Public and private markets both continued their strong performance, which allowed the endowment to not only increase its distribution to the university, but also continue to grow during this critical time when pandemic-related financial pressures challenge all of higher education," Narvekar wrote in his report.

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The university used $2 billion in endowment returns during the year to fund its operating budget.

Harvard ended the fiscal year June 30 with a $283 million operational surplus.