Executive Compensation at the University of Texas (2023)

The University of Texas which is also known as “UT” (note:  UT Austin is the flagship school of the University of Texas system which includes 13 UT institutions) has about 52,000 students (42,000 undergraduate and 10,000 graduate) where tuition, room and board for in-state students total approximately $35,000 annually while out-of-state students pay approximately $70,000 for tuition, room and board.

UT is often in the news or on the list of the top largest university endowments because systemwide, UT has a $45 billion endowment (as of 2023) which is second to Harvard who has $50 billion. It’s a big job to manage a $45 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 voting members (directors) of the governing body, 8 of whom are independent This post addresses the executive compensation of those employed at UTMCO.

In 2023, UTMCO reported total revenue of $70 million with the primary source of revenue being “management fees” which appears to be paid from institutions that make up the University of Texas system.

Expenses totaled $69 million with the largest expense reported to be compensation ($55 million).

UTMCO reported net assets of $28 million at year-end.

158 employees received $55 million which equates to an average compensation of $350,000.  However, only 93 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation, with the 25 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $6,099,562:  Thomas Britton Harris IV, President and CEO
• $3,379,599:  Richard L Hall, President ,CEO and CIO
• $1,667,052:  Rodney R Ruebsahm, Senior Managing Director
• $1,411,708:  Susan Chen, Senior  Managing Director
• $1,410,594:  Edward Lewis, Senior Managing Director
• $1,404,410:  Uziel Yoeli, Managing Director
• $1,334,621:  Patrick Pace, Managing Director
• $1,307,342:  James R Kampfe, Managing Director
• $1,185,831:  Harland Doak, Senior Director
• $1,080,304:  Courtney Powers, Senior Director
• $1,069,984:  Joan Moeller, Sr Managing Director, Corporate Sect’y, and Treasurer
• $1,002,559:  James B Milliken, Director, Vice Chair for Policy*
• $1,000,267:  Anthony Caruso, Senior Director
• $  913,219:  Amanda Hopper, Senior Director
• $  889,086:  Mukund Joshi, Managing Director
• $  720,726:  Kenneth Standley, Senior Director
• $  689,909:  Carolina De Onis, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
• $  679,419:  Timothy Jones, Sr Director, Risk Management
• $  655,864:   Gary Hill, Managing Director
• $  630,850:  Edward Morris, Senior Director, Investments
• $  562,509:  Michael Sjolander, Chief Technology Officer
• $  553,785:  Anson Chuah, Associate Director, Investments
• $  407,493:  Kenneth Reeves, Managing Director
• $  406,863:  Michael Dean, Managing Director
• $  375,315:  Gus Deering, Managing Directo

A “*” indicates compensation was paid by a related organization.

The 25 most highly compensated employees received $31 million in compensation ($1 million of which was paid from a related organization) which means the remaining 133 employees received $25 million in compensation.

20 of the 25 (80%) most highly compensated employees are male while 5 of the 25 (20%) are female (note:  the Form 990 does not report gender; determinations were based on name and google searches).  Interestingly, 8 of the 11 (73%) directors of UTMC listed on the Form 990 are male while 3 of the 10 (27%) are female.

The most highly compensated employee was Thomas Briton Harris, the President and CEO who received more than $6 million in compensation in 2023; and $28 million in compensation from 2018-2023:

Thomas Britton Harris IV:  Total Compensation 2018-2023:  $28 million

• 2023:  $6,099,562
• 2022:  $7,055,774
• 2021:  $6,512,442
• 2020:  $4,313,756
• 2019:  $3,216,078
• 2018:  $  873,225

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

• $1.159,747:  Bloomberg LP, of Boston, MA for financial services
• $  223,750:  Prestige Staffing, of Atlanta, GA for hiring consultants
• $  150,000:  David Barrett Partners, of NY, NY for hiring consultants
• $  132,387:  Deloitte and Touche, of Dallas, TX for auditing
• $  110,250:  The Burgess Group, of Hoboken, NJ for online data/subscription services

To read the IRS Form 990 (2022 for the year ending August 31, 2023), click here.