LP profile

Cornell University Endowment

Endowment · Founded 1864 · New York City, United States

#183 LP Ranking #8 of 108 endowments

11 VC firms backed

$10B AUM

~$1.0B Allocated to VC (est. 10%)

01 · Background

Who Cornell University Endowment is.

Historical Background: Cornell University was founded in 1865 with an initial endowment of $500,000 from Ezra Cornell, which was combined with New York's allotment from the Morrill Land Grant Act. The endowment's value first surpassed $10 billion during the 2021 fiscal year, marking a significant milestone in its growth.
Source of Capital: The endowment's capital is primarily composed of more than 8,000 individual gifts made to the university by its donors. These funds are typically given with the expectation that they will be held in perpetuity, with only the investment income being used for university purposes.
Allocation Strategy: The endowment is managed with a long-term investment strategy designed to generate a consistent and dependable stream of income for the university's budget. The portfolio is diversified across various asset classes, including public equities, fixed income, real estate, and private equity. A key objective of the strategy is to preserve the inflation-adjusted value of the endowment's assets to support both current and future generations of students and faculty.

Sources

02 · Fund commitments

The funds Cornell University Endowment backs.

Cornell University Endowment is a limited partner in 11 funds. 6 of them place in the Power Law Investor Ranking; those lead, best-ranked first.

Sequoia Capital

United States

#2 Power Law

New Enterprise Associates

U.S. Venture Partners

Ardian

France

Baker Capital

United States

M/C Partners

United States

SCALE Aviation

Ireland

TL Ventures

United States

03 · Allocation

How Cornell University Endowment’s fund book is spread.

The 11 funds Cornell University Endowment backs, by where the manager is headquartered and how many funds that manager has raised.

Where those managers are based

By fund headquarters.

North America 982%
Europe 218%

United States 9 · France 1 · Ireland 1

04 · Other LPs

Other LPs.

Other endowments in the Power Law LP ranking, closest to Cornell University Endowment by combined power-law score — North America first, then the nearest worldwide.

🇺🇸

University of Michigan Endowment

LP rank #3 · United States

$18B AUM 81 VC funds backed

🇺🇸

The Heinz Endowments

LP rank #130 · United States

$2.3B AUM 45 VC funds backed

🇺🇸

University of Washington Endowment

LP rank #140 · United States

$6.2B AUM 28 VC funds backed