Harvard, Yale $18B Poorer as Endowments Drop 30%

Harvard and Yale remain the richest schools in the US, but both are getting a lesson in economics. The endowments of the Ivy Leaguer shrank by about 30% over the last year thanks to risky investments, reports Bloomberg. Harvard's fell $11 billion to $26 billion and Yale's dropped $7 billion to $16 billion. Both had moved aggressively into private equity and hedge funds over the past decade, and are now retooling strategies.

“We expect a prolonged period of instability and slower growth in some markets,” wrote Harvard's endowment chief. “We can do and are doing more to manage the risks we face, given the lessons of the past year.” (More Harvard stories.)