Harvard’s endowment jumps 27% in fiscal 2026, lifted by SpaceX as top holding

Harvard University's endowment grew 27.1% in fiscal year 2026, its strongest return in five years, the school said in its annual financial report released on Thursday. The endowment, which beat the S&P 500's 22.3% total return in the same period by 4.8 percentage points, now totals nearly $68 billion. The outperformance came actions by the Trump administration to penalize the school and withhold funding from the university. "While markets can easily take back what they give, that return will strengthen the endowment's capacity to support the University over time," Harvard's chief financial officer Ritu Kalra and treasurer Timothy Barakett wrote in the 49-page annual report.