Just days after ending her 11-year tenure as president of Harvard University, Drew Faust announced she’s making the jump from academia to Wall Street, sparking outrage from many fellow academics.
According to the Crimson, Faust has agreed to become an independent director member of the Board of Directors at Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm that has served as a punching bag for Democrats who are angry at Wall Street since the financial crisis of 2008.
Faust’s new position also carries a number of lucrative benefits. She will receive an annual grant of restricted stock units valued at $500,000 as well as a $75,000 annual retainer fee that can be paid in either cash or stock shares.
After her announcement, many fellow academics were outraged by her decision, which they perceive to be evidence of the cozy relationship between elite higher education and big business.
Chad Wellmon, an associate professor of German at the University of Virginia, found Faust’s transition enlightening.
The ease and, to be honest, total sense it now makes for such a quick move from Harvard to Goldman Sachs kinda just nails the state of elite higher ed. Kerr’s multi-varsity is now but a quaint, antiquated institution. Harvard and the rest are multinational corporations.
— chad wellmon (@cwellmon) July 5, 2018
Others are connecting the dots between Harvard’s large endowment program and the move to Goldman Sachs.
Looking at the financials, there’s a case to be made that the most well-endowed universities are hedge funds with a non-profit org on the side. Underlining that, this week Drew Faust, former president of Harvard, moved (up? down? laterally?) onto the board of Goldman Sachs. https://t.co/WN40LieYfO
— Eileen Clancy (@clancynewyork) July 9, 2018
Me: What business is Harvard in?
Her: This is the McD’s q isn’t it?
Me: Yep
Me: Harvard isn’t a university so much as it’s a real estate & private investment fund w/ a university attached to it
Her: Well, Drew Faust *did* just retire to join Goldman Sachs’ board
Me: SEE, TOLD YOU— SPACE FORCE 2024 (@chipgoines) July 10, 2018
When asked about her retirement plans early last year, Faust had given no indication of working on Wall Street, instead saying that she had planned to focus on returning to her career as a historian and writer.
“I really would like to take the year to think through whether I can be a historian again, what writing project I might want to take on, how I see my voice,” Faust said when asked about her post-presidency life in May 2017. “That’s the non-plan. I’ve wanted to have enough of a plan so that I don’t feel completely useless, but not so much a plan as to restrict my ability to take a deep breath.”
In her new position, Faust will be a member of the firm’s governance, public responsibilities, and risk committees. According to CEO Lloyd Blankfein, a Harvard alumnus, Faust’s time at Harvard will prove to be immensely helpful in benefiting both the firm and their shareholders.
“Drew led Harvard through a decade of growth and transformation,” Blankfein wrote. “Her perspective and experience running one of the most complex and preeminent institutions in the world will benefit our board, our firm and our shareholders.”
