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Billionaire Len Blavatnik is among the group of irate Harvard benefactors who are cutting their financial ties to the school.
Following President Claudine Gay’s appalling testimony before Congress, Blavatnik’s family foundation has halted funding to Harvard, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CNN.
According to the source, Jewish tycoon Blavatnik, who is estimated by Forbes to be worth $32 billion, is withholding gifts to Harvard University until the school takes action against antisemitism on campus.
The Harvard Business School alumnus has a track record of supporting Jewish charities and the Ivy League school with substantial donations. According to the source, Blavatnik’s family foundation has given Harvard at least $270 million.
Blavatnik, who was born in Ukraine and reared in Russia, amassed his early wealth following the fall of the Soviet Union, when state-owned businesses such as oil and aluminium were privatised. Having obtained US citizenship forty years ago, he has gradually increased the scope of his charitable giving and investments.
The source stated that although Blavatnik hasn’t made any explicit demands of Harvard, he wants the school to guarantee that Jewish students receive the same level of protection as other students.
Although prominent hedge fund investor Bill Ackman and other individuals have virtually cut their connection to Harvard, Blavatnik is permitting gifts to be made again.
He hopes Harvard performs better. He’s not attempting to leave or withdraw from the area, the person claimed.
Bloomberg was the first to report on Blavatnik’s decision to stop contributing to Harvard University. Harvard remained silent regarding the news. The Blavatnik Foundation opted not to respond.
Reaction waves
Some benefactors have reacted negatively to Harvard and other colleges’ reactions to the Hamas strikes on Israel on October 7. Later that month, almost 1,600 Harvard alums promised to stop giving money until more was done to combat antisemitism on campus.
After Gay and the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and MIT faltered in their attempts to respond to questions from senators during a hearing earlier this month over whether or not demands for the genocide of Jews violate university policies, the backlash became more intense. Gay apologised for her testimony in the face of requests for her dismissal.Enter your email to subscribe to the CNN Business Newsletter.
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The decision made by Blavatnik is a major setback for Harvard. He pledged to donate a record $200 million to Harvard Medical School in 2018.
Blavatnik has a history of funding politicians and universities. In 2017, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him. According to reports, he gave money to both the Trump inaugural committee and Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign.
The announcement is made at the same time as Gay is being criticised for plagiarism and Harvard is still under scrutiny for how it has handled antisemitism. Harvard announced on Thursday that Gay would be amending her PhD dissertation from 1997 to address “inadequate citation.”
Harvard released data this week indicating a 17% decline in early applications to four-year lows.
Gay has the teachers holding a Zoom.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Gay convened a virtual town hall with hundreds of faculty members on Tuesday, shortly before declaring her intention to make revisions to her dissertation.
According to the source, during the Zoom town hall with members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the plagiarism problem that has surrounded Gay was not discussed.
The source said that during the occasion, about a dozen Harvard faculty professors spoke, all of them were supportive.
In a statement sent to The Harvard Crimson late on Wednesday, Harvard stated that Gay intended to make more revisions to her writings because of “inadequate citation,” escalating the controversy over plagiarism and Harvard’s response to it.
A representative for Harvard declined to comment. Information about Gay’s faculty-only Zoom town hall was previously