Poison Ivy League
I watched the testimony of Harvard University president Claudine Gay before Congress. It was truly one of the worst things I have watched (If you haven’t watched it, you can watch it here ).
In summary, the president of one of the most prestigious universities in the world was struggling to condemn whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” constitutes harassment or punishable speech. Asked if that kind of rhetoric violates Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment, Gay said, “it can be, depending on the context.” DEPENDING ON THE CONTEXT!
I promise this Shrubstack is about Investing (I also want to clarify that Shrubstack is against the Genocide of ANY people and it DOESN’T depend on the context. The fact I need to make this clear shows what a messed-up world we live in)
I had to look up this Claudine lady. As per the Harvard website:
“Gay is a leading scholar of political behavior, considering issues of race and politics in America [and] the roots of competition and cooperation between minority groups".
Unbelievably, her subject involves Race and Politics. Which makes is to so much worse to justify her pathetic failure to pass her Exams before Congress. It turns out Claudine doesn’t even know her own subject! FAIL!!!
So how did Claudine get to run Harvard? I amused myself with the thought that a bunch of middle-aged Harvard academics got together and said: “We need to project an Image of Modernity and Diversity. It works soooo well with the Donors. This Claudine is perfect. She’s a woman, she’s black and her surname is Gay! Perfect. So ESG! Our donors will love it!!” (if you find this joke sexist or racist, you can unsubscribe from my free blog but remember that the target of the joke couldn’t condemn Genocide so that makes her fair game in my book).
I promise this Shrubstack is about Investing!
Harvard has been around since 1636, and although it’s not quite Oxford, it’s still a prestigious university. Did that testimony impact Harvard? We can argue that Harvard will still be great and will be around for another 500 years but let’s put it this way: Harvard education was worth 100c on the dollar before Claudine’s testimony and now it’s trading below par (I don’t think it will ever trade at 20 cents on the dollar, but boy are they are trying hard).
The unveiling of Claudine Gay before Congress reminded me a bit of the Portrait of Dorian Gray: an idyllic image of modernity and diversity, replaced by the ugly truth of a hollow, poisonous wokeism. The Portrait of Claudine Dorian Gay.
How is this related to investing?
It’s about highlighting the damage to a brand that unprepared leaders can make, and that an eroding culture can amplify. It’s about considering how profitability can get impaired by decisions based on opposing agendas between principals and shareholders.
I was thinking of parallels in the business world and what came to mind where the 10s of billions in losses at BP Plc and other Oil & Gas companies when they made a shift to renewables: they were literally shunning >20% IRR Oil & Gas assets to plough their shareholders’ money into <5% IRR projects that depended on low rates. But that was the only way their CEO could get an invite to Davos! Shame about the shareholders! And the latest one is my favourite: Major Miners like BHP and Teck selling their coal assets for 2x EBITDA in pursuit of Blackrock’s sweet ESG money.
It’s not exactly as deplorable as NOT condemning Genocide, but these are outcomes of the same disease.
These people either don’t care about your money or they are not qualified to invest your money. Their agendas are completely separate from your well-being, whether you are a shareholder, a donor or a student.
From now on I will refer to them as “The Poison Ivy League”.
Stay away. And don’t be afraid to call them out.
The world will become a better place for it.
Dear Richard, thank you for your powerful words. You can’t imagine how much this means to me, coming from a man of your experience.
All the best!
🌳
I listened to a podcast with you a while ago and have followed since then. You are a voice of sanity in an increasingly insane world. What Claudine Gay said was reprehensible. And it was especially reprehensible, as you indicate, when coming from an "expert" in race and society. It is especially disappointing to me that she is black and that her views are so pervasive amongst her academic cohort. I was lucky enough to march over the Edmund Pettis bridge with Martin Luther King and to have lived in and worked for an interracial South Africa during the time of apartheid. Both King and Mandela would be appalled by Ms. Gay's behaviour and her views. (As an aside, King once said “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism,” ). Finally, I personally have targeted my energy investments into non-major oils, coal, and uranium because I cannot see how renewables will ever enable poorer countries to increase their living standards enough to satisfy the justifiable aspirations of their growing populations.