The following are lists of institutions of higher education by endowment size.
Harvard University, with a $55 billion endowment as of 2025, is the wealthiest university in the world.
Financial endowment
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A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial resources, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according
Lists of institutions of higher education by endowment size
…The following are lists of institutions of higher education by endowment size. List of South African universities by endowment…
![Engraving of Harvard College by Paul Revere, 1767. Harvard University's endowment was valued at $53.2 billion as of 2021[update].](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/A_Westerly_View_of_the_Colledges_in_Cambridge_New_England_by_Paul_Revere.jpeg/500px-A_Westerly_View_of_the_Colledges_in_Cambridge_New_England_by_Paul_Revere.jpeg)
Engraving of Harvard College by Paul Revere, 1767. Harvard University's endowment was valued at $53.2 billion as of 2021[update].
The Novo Nordisk Foundation, the world's wealthiest foundation (as of 2022), is headquartered in Hellerup, a Copenhagen, Denmark suburb.
The Gates Foundation, the world's second wealthiest foundation (as of 2022), headquarters complex in Seattle as seen from the Space Needle
Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic Roman emperor who created the first endowed chair professorships