By David Swensen is Yale’s chief investment officer. According to CNBC, Swensen has invested for the university in Andreessen Horowitz’s $300 million crypto fund, which closed in June. According to Yale’s alumni magazine, he was called Yale’s “in-house Warren Buffett.”
CNBC cited anonymous news sources in their report. Besides, Bloomberg has also quoted unnamed sources on Friday. Despite not being verified as of yet, Fred Ehrsam, Coinbase co-founder; Matt Huang, a former partner at Sequoia Capital; and Charles Noyes, who previously worked at Pantera Capital were allegedly said to negotiate an investment in crypto with the Ivy League institution.
Swensen is widely considered to be one of the world’s top financial managers. His institutional investment approach has been outlined in multiple books and has influenced the way in which other significant endowments are managed.
Swensen started working at Yale in 1985 when the endowment he managed was just over $1 billion. Swensen, who manages Yale’s $29.4 billion endowments, has already invested in two funds dedicated to cryptocurrencies. Swensen was said to be the university’s Warren Buffet due to his successful investments with Yale’s endowment. The funds are run by Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm, which was started by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Huang.
Crypto is a small percentage of Swensen’s investment portfolio. Given his success to date, it wouldn’t be surprising if other endowments also turn to cryptocurrencies as a means of investment.
According to Wikipedia, Yale boasts second-largest endowment among educational institutions globally, which was valued at $25.4 billion in 2016. In the last several months, Yale was amongst the investors that helped the Paradigm raise $400 million.
Yale’s first endowment was an initial fund of £562 donated by founder Elihu Yale, in 1718. The Yale endowment has grown to its substantial current valuation. Wikipedia indicates that Harvard University arguably has the most valuable endowment in the world at the present moment.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Matt Huang, Sequoia Capital Partner has resigned the from the firm. It is believed that he left Sequoia Capital Partners in June to set up another cryptocurrency fund with Fred Ehrsam, who is the co-founder of Coinbase.
Sequoia was also said to be invested in Paradigm, according to that article. Paradigm is a new firm that has not yet announced its existence. Noyes has told Bloomberg in June, that Paradigm aims to invest in early-stage cryptocurrency, blockchain and exchange projects.
It was reported by a source close to the matter that Sequoia is going to continue to invest in blockchain-related technologies and has made considerable commitments to Messrs.
Yale University has not responded to further requests to comment when contacted. The precise scale of Yale’s investment in the fund is currently unknown. Moreover, representatives from Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm have also declined to comment.
It was reported that Yale’s endowment had generated yearly returns of around 12.6 percent since the mid-’80s. This may primarily be due to Yale’s reputation for seeking out for seeking out alternative investments, the online knowledge source says.
What do you think about Swensen’s investment in Andreessen Horowitz’s $300 million crypto fund, which is now closed? Why do you think that Yale has not responded to any comments? Let us know in the comments section below!
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