Harvard Invested More in Bitcoin ETF than Google

At the end of the second quarter, Harvard University’s investment portfolio included $117 million worth of shares in BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF, making it the university's fifth largest investment. This investment exceeded its nearly $114 million stake in Alphabet, Google's parent company. Managed by Harvard Management Co Inc., Harvard's largest investment remains in Microsoft, valued at over $310 million. The popularity of BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF has surged among institutional investors, becoming one of the most successfully launched exchange-traded funds. At the end of the first quarter, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund held more than $500 million in the Bitcoin fund, ticker IBIT, which now manages $84 billion in assets. Other Bitcoin ETFs are also attracting institutional interest; for example, Michigan's State Retirement System reported holdings of nearly $11 million in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF at the end of the second quarter. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent news outlet. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a major investor, with ties to several crypto companies. The Block remains committed to providing unbiased information about the crypto industry.