Executive Compensation at MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private teaching and research university with an acceptance rate at about 7% of applicants.  Located in Boston, Massachusetts, MIT has about 12,000 students, of which nearly 5,000 are undergraduates. The annual tuition, room, board, and fees is about $80,000.

There are 10 voting members of the governing body (Executive Committee Members), 7 of whom are independent, although the Form 990 lists 11 members (which appears to be due to timing differences).  8 of the 11 (73%) are male while 3 of the 11 (27%) are female.

In 2020, MIT’s total revenue was $4.8 billion (compared to $5.3 billion in 2019) with most of the income coming from 4 sources: research contracts ($1.4 billion), investment income, gains, and royalties ($1.2 billion), contributions, gifts, and grants ($1 billion) and tuition, fees, and services  ($1.1 billion).  Expenses were $4 billion (not including $200 million in depreciation).  At year-end, MIT had $24 billion in net fund assets.

On the IRS Form 990 (2019 for the year beginning July 1, 2019 and ending June 30, 2020), MIT reports $681 million in grants, of which $669 million was awarded to domestic individuals, $10 million to domestic organizations, and $2 million to foreign organizations, governments, and individuals.  Most of the grants awarded to individuals were non-cash grants ($470 million). 6,888 individuals received $470 million or an average non-cash tuition grant of $68,000 each (compared to $25,000 at Boston University), which means those paying full tuition supplemented other student’s tuition.

MIT reported having 26,214 employees in 2020 who received total compensation of $1.9 billion  which equates to an average compensation of $72,000 (compared to $45,000 at Boston University, $45,000 at Boston College; $57,000 at Duke and $68,000 at Harvard).  5,133 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 18 most highly compensated individuals listed below:

• $2,545,561:  Seth Alexander, President of MITIM Co
• $2,520,619:  Steven Marsh, SVP, MITIM Co
• $1,792,959:  Thomas Wieand, Global Investment Professional, MITIM Co
• $1,710,911:  Ryan Akkina, Global Investment Professional, MITIM Co
• $1,702,843:  Matthew Fisher, Global Investment Professional, MITIM Co
• $1,675,260:  Rafael Reif, President
• $1,543,780:  Joel Cohen, Global Investment Professional , MITIM Co
• $  926,593:  Israel Ruiz, EVP and Treasurer
• $  831,938:  Martin Schmidt, Provost
• $  652,867:  Eric Evans, Director, Lincoln Lab
• $  620,771:  Julie Lucas, VP for Resource Development
• $  592,948:  Mark DiVincenzo, VP and General Counsel
• $  579,226:  Sanjay Sarma, VP for Open Learning
• $  561,841:  Maria Zuber, VP for Research
• $  558,384:  Cynthia Barnhart, Chancellor
• $  432,859:  Claude Canizares, Former VP, Professor
• $  413,737:  Robert Millard, Chair of the Corporation
• $  395,332:  Suzanne Glassburn, VP and Secretary

The 18 most highly compensated employees received $20 million in compensation.  14 of the 18 (78%) most highly compensated employees are male while 4 of the 18 (22%) are female.  The 10 most highly compensated employees are male.

MIT paid for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, personal services, a housing allowance or a residence for personal use, and gross up payments and/or tax indemnification.  To read more about these expenses, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.