Shots In The Dark: He's Away on Safari?

Thursday, June 22, 2024

He's Away on Safari?

Suddenly stories about Larry Ellison's missing gift to Harvard are everywhere. The Financial Times, the San Jose Mercury News, Bloomberg....

This can not be a coincidence. Is someone planting them? Answer: Yes. The question becomes, Who would have a vested interest in embarrassing Ellison?

In any case, this story from the Boston Herald details Harvard's troubles trying to get Ellison on the phone. Given the level of detail, it would appear that Harvard officials cooperated with the article.

Hmmm........

If Harvard is actually planting these stories, I'd like your thoughts on whether that's something that would ever have happened pre-Larry Summers. It seems a bad business to publicly embarrass a donor who won't pay up.

¶ 8:46 AM

Comments:

I agree, and it's equally clear Summers wouldn't want the check to arrive on, say, July 8 , when he can't do the press conference

# posted by Anonymous : 9:40 AM

Marty Peretz says he knows three former students who are now hedging on $100 million gifts. What would their reaction to these stories be, I wonder?

# posted by richard : 9:46 AM

Richard, what are you going to do next year when you can't blame every single thing that happens at Harvard on Larry Summers?

# posted by Anonymous : 2:36 PM

Well, I'm sure I'll find something. More to the point, the question goes unaddressed. Would Harvard have gone public over an unfulfilled donation in the Rudenstine era?

I think we all know the answer to that.

# posted by richard : 2:39 PM

One of the functions of a great blog is to be unashamedly contrarian -- cranky, cynical, even reflexively negative -- in the face of long-unchallenged authority. We don't get enough of it in this status-hungry, money-driven culture. I like it. Keep firing those bullets of bile!

# posted by Anonymous : 3:32 PM

Actually,there is another hint in the Herald's article of its source--Larry Summers is described as a "formidable fundraiser"--no mention of last year being the worst for fund raising since 1990...

# posted by Anonymous : 4:39 PM

Actually,there is another hint in the Herald's article of its source--Larry Summers is described as a "formidable fundraiser"--no mention of last year being the worst for fund raising since 1990...

# posted by Anonymous : 4:40 PM

For the record, last year (FY05) was the second-best year for Harvard fundraising, in terms of total dollars. It was the lowest alumni participation rate since 1989.

# posted by Anonymous : 7:28 PM

Each year is generally better then the previous, so '05 fell short of that. The low participation rate is pretty telling and in the long haul a better indicator of the success of LHS as a leader than the admiration of some hedge managers who think faculty employees should have put up with their CEO's style and content

# posted by Anonymous : 7:40 PM

This is assuming, of course, that the figures are reliable. Hasn't there been talk of creative accounting?

# posted by richard : 7:54 PM

Yes, there has, and we have certainly seen problems with candor on the part of LHS, as Harry Lewis and others have noted

# posted by Anonymous : 9:07 PM

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