Harvard's Endowment Is Profiting From Puerto Rico's Debt as the Island's Schools Face Crippling Cuts

Members of the Puerto Rican diaspora have joined student activists and financial reform groups in a weeklong campaign to target university endowments profiting from Puerto Rican debt.

At Harvard University on Wednesday, the coalition called on the institution’s $37 billion endowment, the world’s largest, to divest from its $2 billion commitment with the Baupost Group. In October, The Intercept identified Baupost, a Boston-based hedge fund managed by billionaire Seth Klarman, as a large holder of one type of Puerto Rican debt. The fund had been hiding $911 million in COFINA bonds, a debt instrument backed by sales tax receipts, through a shell corporation named Decagon Holdings.

A disclosure last week from the COFINA bondholders said that Baupost’s investment had increased to $931 million. Klarman has consistently dismissed cries for debt cancellation for Puerto Rico, saying the island would be better off in the long run repaying its debts. Baupost bought the bonds on the cheap and would reap a huge payday if paid back at face value.

Klarman is a major GOP donor and supporter of the charter school movement; he is also an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.

Read more: https://theintercept.com/2018/01/25/harvards-endowment-is-profiting-from-puerto-rican-debt-as-the-islands-schools-face-crippling-cuts/