Harvard Will Pay HMC Chief $6 Million Per Year

N.P. Narvekar, the chief executive of Harvard Management Company, will receive nearly $6 million in compensation from the University per year over the next three years as he works to lift Harvard’s investment arm out of a multi-year returns slump, according to the Wall Street Journal.

His pay package will be one of the highest for any endowment CEO, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported this figure. Emily Guadagnoli, a spokesperson for HMC, declined to comment for this story.

Narvekar became CEO of HMC in December and has already instituted several major changes to the firm, including laying off half the its staff by the end of the calendar year. According to Bloomberg, 57 individuals are expected to begin departing the firm in April.

Historically, HMC’s CEOs have been well compensated. When she was CEO of HMC, Jane Mendillo received nearly $14 million in compensation in fiscal year 2014 and the first six months of fiscal year 2015. While he was head of public market, Stephen Blyth, who served as CEO of HMC for 18 months, received $8 million in calendar year 2014.

HMC’s executive compensation structure has been the subject of scrutiny in recent years as alumni from two separate classes have directly criticized the firm’s payouts to its managers.

A group of alumni of from the Class of 1969 penned a letter to University administrators earlier this winter, calling on Harvard to stop the “unjustifiable” salaries. Most recently, a group of alumni from the Class of 1981 sent University President Drew G. Faust a letter describing concerns over the high compensation levels amid HMC’s poor returns.

According to a message sent to Harvard affiliates by Narvekar a month ago, the firm will severely restructure its internal management team, cutting the majority of them by the end of the fiscal year and moving to retain outside managers to handle its assets.

—Staff writer Brandon J. Dixon can be reached at brandon.dixon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrandonJoDixon.