Executive Compensation at the University of Texas

The University of Texas at Austin  is also known as “UT Austin” (note:  Austin is the flagship school of the University of Texas System which includes 9 academic universities and 6 health institutions).  With about $52,000 students (41,000 undergraduate and 11,000 graduate), tuition, room and board for in-state students are  approximately $35,000 annually while out-of-state students pay approximately $60,000 for tuition, room and board.

UT Austin is often in the news or on the lists of the top largest university endowments because they have a $32 billion endowment (as of 2020) which is second to Harvard who has $42 billion. It’s a big job to manage a $32 billion endowment and that task falls upon The University of Texas Texas A & M Investment Management Company (UTMCO), a tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) 3 that is overseen by 9 independent voting members (directors) of the governing body. This post addresses the executive compensation of those employed at UTMCO.

In 2020, UTMCO reported total revenue of $50 million with the primary source of revenue being “management fees” which appears to be paid from UT Austin meaning the university funds the organization for the annual expenses, which total 1.6% ($50 million/$3.2 billion). Expenses totaled $47 million with the largest expenses reported to be compensation ($36 million) and office-related expenses ($7 million).

UTMCO reported net assets of $25 million at year-end.

118 employees received $36 million which equates to an average compensation of $305,000.  However, only 73 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation, with the 17 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $4,313,756:  Thomas Britton Harris IV, President, CEO and CIO
• $2,672,369:  Richard L Hall, Deputy CIO
• $1,738,450:  Susan Chen, Managing Director
• $1,672,959:  Rodney R Ruebsham, Managing Director
• $1,575,019:  Edward Lewis, Managing Director
• $1,241,017:  Uziel Yoeli, Managing Director
• $1,212,070:  Scott Slayton, Managing Director
• $1,116,788:  Harland Doak, Senior Director
• $1,079,198:  Patrick Pace, Managing Director
• $1,001,070:  Courtney Powers, Senior Director
• $1,000,890:  Amanda Hopper, Senior Director
• $  975,284:  Joan Moeller, Sr Managing Director, Corporate Sect’y, and Treasurer
• $  943,411:  James R Kamppe, Managing Director
• $  861,617:  Mukund Joshi, Senior Director
• $  695,934:  Anna Cecilia Gonzalez, Corporate Counsel and CCO
• $  545,471:  Uche Abalogu, Chief Technology Officer
• $  510,901:  William Prather, Senior Director

The 17 most highly compensated employees received $22 million in compensation (or about 61% of total compensation).  The remaining 101 employees received $16 million in compensation, which equates to an average of $158,000.  57 of the remaining 101 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation.

12 of the 17 (70%) most highly compensated employees are male while 5 of the 17 (30%) are female (note:  the Form 990 does not report gender; determinations were based on name and google searches).  Interestingly, 7 of the 9 (78%) directors of UTMC are male while 2 of the 9 (22%) are female.

UTMCO paid for social club dues or initiation fees.  To read more detail about this expense and the deferred compensation plan see Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information on the Form 990.

3 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation:

• $853,072:  Bloomberg LP, of Boston, MA for financial services
• $217,500:  IPREO Parent Holdco LLC, of NY, NY for financial services
• $127,327:  Vinson and Elkins, LLP, of Houston, TX for professional services (law firm)

To read the IRS Form 990 (2019 for the year ending August 31, 2020), click here.