Harvard University may lose the title of the nation’s wealthiest university, Bloomberg reported.
The potential new wealthiest university is the University of Texas, which may overtake Harvard’s $53.2 billion endowment, as of June 21. The value of the Texas endowment at that time was $42.9 billion.
The source of the new wealth: crude oil and natural gas. Bloomberg reports that with rising prices, Texas earns $6 million a day on 2.1 million acres it owns in the Permian Basin.
At a time when other colleges are shedding fossil fuel investments, Texas is having a windfall. “The University of Texas has a cash windfall when everyone is looking at a potential cash crunch,” said William Goetzmann, a professor of finance and management studies at Yale University. “Adjusting your portfolio for social concerns is not costless.”