Who Profits From `Non-Profit' Columbia University Inc. In 2021?

Columbia University Graduate School of Business Uris Hall (wickicommons)

Located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, tax-exempt Columbia University claims to be a “non-profit” institution. Yet according to the Trustees of Columbia University’s Form 990 Financial Filing for 2017, between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, Columbia’s total revenues of $5,888,095,558 exceeded its total expenses of $5,022,865,551 by over $865 million; and the value of “non-profit” Columbia’s net assets increased from $14.6 billion to $15.7 billion during the same period.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are accumulated by “non-profit” Columbia University as a result of its investment of endowment funds in things like corporate stocks and hedge funds, from which it obtains dividends or additional income from selling some of its corporate stocks at stock market prices higher than the prices it paid at the time the corporate stocks were purchased. Between July 2017 and June 2018, for example, Columbia University’s annual income from its investments exceeded $683 million. In addition, during the same period, Columbia University’s annual rental income from its real estate property exceeded $33 million and its annual income from “royalties” exceeded $24 million.

Some of the $5.8 billion in annual revenues that the administration of Columbia University pocketed between July 2017 and June 2018 was then passed on to “sub-recipients” of Columbia’s tax-exempt government and foundation grant money like NYU, Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, M.I.T., Harvard University, Stanford University, Northwestern University, University of Pittsburgh, Yale University, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, Emory University, California Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Cornell University, JH Piego Corporation and The Rand Corporation for “research,” in the form of “sub-recipient” grants. The Columbia administration, for example, gave:

$2,225,976 in sub-recipient grant money to NYU;

$1,985,135 in sub-recipient grant money to Johns Hopkins University;

$1,849,519 in sub-recipient grant money to Duke University;

$1,835,855 in sub-recipient grant money to University of Pennsylvania;

$1,524,713 in sub-recipient grant money to M.I.T.;

$1,285,545 in sub-recipient grant money to Harvard University;

 

$1,276,330 in sub-recipient grant money to Stanford University;

 $1,139,952 in sub-recipient grant money to Northwestern University;

 $1,098,060 in sub-recipient grant money to University of Pittsburgh;

$960,611 in sub-recipient grant money to Yale University;

$863,723 in sub-recipient grant money to University of Michigan;

$741,411 in sub-recipient grant money to Georgetown University;

$736,807 in sub-recipient grant money to Emory University;

$685,038 in sub-recipient grant money to California Institute of Technology;

$622,477 in sub-recipient grant money to University of Chicago;

$609,593 in sub-recipient grant money to Cornell University;

$511,313 in sub-recipient grant money to JH Piego Corporation; and

$329,639 in sub-recipient grant money to The RAND Corporation.

And much of Columbia University’s $5.8 billion in annual revenues between July 2017 and June 2018 was used to provide total annual compensation payments to some Columbia University administrators and professors that exceeded by a lot the annual average salaries paid to most people who live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Total annual compensation payments that exceeded $450,000, for example, were made by Columbia University to the following university administrators or professors:

Columbia University Executive Vice-President of Investment Management Peter Holland received a total annual compensation of $6,523,075;

Columbia University Clinical Professor David Silvers received a total annual compensation of $4,225,843;

Columbia University Professor of Surgery Craig Smith received a total annual compensation of $4,119,778;

Columbia University Professor of Surgery Lawrence Lenke received a total annual compensation of $4,119,778;

Columbia University Professor of Surgery Kiehyun Riew received a total annual compensation of $3,343,152;

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger received a total annual compensation of $2,648,682;

Columbia University Professor of Surgery Ronald Lehman Jr. received a total annual compensation of $2,455,483;

Columbia University Executive VP for Health Sciences Lee Goldman received a total annual compensation of $1,930,675;

Columbia University Provost John Coatsworth received a total annual compensation of $834,731;

Columbia University Senior Executive VP Gerald Rosberg received a total annual compensation of $801,407;

Columbia University Executive VP for Finance and IT Anne Sullivan received a total annual compensation of $786,051;

Columbia University Executive VP of University Development and Alumni Relations Amelia Alverson received a total annual compensation of $778,731;

Columbia University Executive VP of Arts and Sciences David Madigan received a total annual compensation of $765,451;

Columbia University General Counsel Jane Booth received a total annual compensation of $707,781;

Columbia University Executive VP of Facilities David Greenberg received a total annual compensation of $551,922; and

Columbia University Trustees’ Secretary Jerome Davis received a total annual compensation of $464,575.

In addition, 5,716 other administrators or faculty members of “non-profit” and corporate tax-exempted “Columbia University Inc.” each individually received--between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018--total annual compensations that exceeded $100,000.

According to its Form 990 financial filing for 2017, between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, "non-profit" Columbia University was also the "direct controlling entity" of business firms like the following:

Merit Energy Partners LLP;

Sanjeevini Investment Holding;

GCM Grosvenor Blue LP;

India Equity Fund Limited;

Canaan Resources Partners Drilling Fund;

Vectra Energy Drill Fund LLP;

Star Asia Opportunity Fund;

Fathom Knowledge Network; and

Freezer Box Inc.

And in addition, the Cayman Islands-based FPCM Inflation Linked Opportunities Ltd. investment firm was another business firm in which Columbia University was also the "direct controlling entity," between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.

Perhaps it’s now time for the Upper West Side’s “non-profit” Columbia University to finally begin to start paying a fair share of municipal, state and federal taxes during the 2021 fiscal year?