Are there any top universities that one could actually buy, even theoretically? Most (or at least most large) universities are either government-run or non-profits and one can’t buy these kinds of entities.
Sometimes private colleges end up having to shut down due to financial troubles; this happened to a few places recently during the pandemic but is rare for prestigious top-tier schools. In such a situation a prospective EA buyer could probably sweep in and buy a lot of influence by bailing out the school while also insisting that in exchange the leadership be staffed with picks of the donor’s choosing.
But I think a better course of action would be to just fund a new department (maybe in X risk, AI safety, moral philosophy, or development economics / progress studies) within an existing college. For example, George Mason University is a public college but their economics department is funded in part by conservative organizations: https://giving.gmu.edu/featured/5-million-gift-from-charles-koch-foundation-for-economics/.
Are there any top universities that one could actually buy, even theoretically? Most (or at least most large) universities are either government-run or non-profits and one can’t buy these kinds of entities.
Sometimes private colleges end up having to shut down due to financial troubles; this happened to a few places recently during the pandemic but is rare for prestigious top-tier schools. In such a situation a prospective EA buyer could probably sweep in and buy a lot of influence by bailing out the school while also insisting that in exchange the leadership be staffed with picks of the donor’s choosing.
But I think a better course of action would be to just fund a new department (maybe in X risk, AI safety, moral philosophy, or development economics / progress studies) within an existing college. For example, George Mason University is a public college but their economics department is funded in part by conservative organizations: https://giving.gmu.edu/featured/5-million-gift-from-charles-koch-foundation-for-economics/.