Effective Ventures has since come to a settlement with the FTX estate and paid back the $26.8 million given to it by FTX Foundation. [...] It’s amid such turmoil that Wytham Abbey is being listed on the open market for £15 million [...]
Adjusted for inflation, the purchase price of the house two years ago now equals £16.2 million. [...] The listing comes as homes on the UK’s once-hot country market are taking longer to sell, forcing some owners to offer discounts.
I still think the intangible reputational damage is worse, but a loss of a million pounds (that could’ve been spent on malaria bed nets) would be nothing to sneeze at either.
It’s not necessarily a loss of a million pounds if many of the events that happened there would have spent money to organise events elsewhere (renting event spaces and accommodation for event attendees can get quite pricey) and would have spent additional time on organising the events, finding venues, setting them up etc (compared to having them at Wytham).
For comparison, EA Global events cost in the ballpark of a million pounds per event.
*A million pounds if we round down, not to mention it could’ve been much more if it was invested. The venue is not the biggest cost of those EAG events, since you also need to pay for things like travel grants, catering, equipment… This also doesn’t establish that buying it is better than renting. Not that it matters, the only thing listed on the Wytham Abbey website is a grand total of eleven workshops. Even if you don’t want to give the money to animals or the developing world, and even if you don’t want to invest the money to have more to give later, and even if you don’t want to invest it into community building in poor countries but rather in rich countries, then this money still could’ve been spent better.
I don’t know how the cost benefit calculation works out but retreats have different costs than conferences (including some overnight accommodation) and less tangible costs associated with using a different venue for each event.
I would also assume there are quite a few more events that aren’t listed online.
On the other hand, the project also spent some significant amount of money on staffing, supplying, maintaining and improving the property, so total expenditure is surely more than just purchase price minus sale price.
Inside Wytham Abbey, the £15 Million Castle Effective Altruism Must Sell [Bloomberg]
From the article:
I still think the intangible reputational damage is worse, but a loss of a million pounds (that could’ve been spent on malaria bed nets) would be nothing to sneeze at either.
(archive link)
It’s not necessarily a loss of a million pounds if many of the events that happened there would have spent money to organise events elsewhere (renting event spaces and accommodation for event attendees can get quite pricey) and would have spent additional time on organising the events, finding venues, setting them up etc (compared to having them at Wytham).
For comparison, EA Global events cost in the ballpark of a million pounds per event.
*A million pounds if we round down, not to mention it could’ve been much more if it was invested.
The venue is not the biggest cost of those EAG events, since you also need to pay for things like travel grants, catering, equipment… This also doesn’t establish that buying it is better than renting. Not that it matters, the only thing listed on the Wytham Abbey website is a grand total of eleven workshops.
Even if you don’t want to give the money to animals or the developing world, and even if you don’t want to invest the money to have more to give later, and even if you don’t want to invest it into community building in poor countries but rather in rich countries, then this money still could’ve been spent better.
I don’t know how the cost benefit calculation works out but retreats have different costs than conferences (including some overnight accommodation) and less tangible costs associated with using a different venue for each event.
I would also assume there are quite a few more events that aren’t listed online.
Note that not all the workshops are one-off, eg Future Impact Group was every trimester I believe
On the other hand, the project also spent some significant amount of money on staffing, supplying, maintaining and improving the property, so total expenditure is surely more than just purchase price minus sale price.