In particular, I expect that in the short term you’ll get a lot less communication about things than you’d want. This is for a few reasons:
Legal risk. It’s likely that there will be extensive legal proceedings around FTX that will drag on for a very long time. This means that anything that is said by anyone who is even tangentially involved is at risk of being scrutinised and multiply interpreted by dozens of people, including people whose role (rightly) is to advocate for their clients or those they represent.
I share this concern that everyone will get much less information than they want, which conflicts especially wth the ideals that many EA organisations have of transparency, and integrity.
Clawback laws can be far-reaching, and in recent cases lawyers (e.g., against Bernard Madoff) have managed to recover significant amounts of investors’ money with sufficiently energetic application of these laws.
So, to give a concrete example, The Centre For Effective Altruism reportedly purchased Wytham Abbey—one of the most beautiful large estates of 2,500 acres in Britain—which was on the the market for £15m last year with Savill’s last year.
As well as being a little unclear about how any such a purchase is consistent with the Centre’s altruistic principles in the first place, then if there is the slightest suggestion that any property leases or freehold transfers were funded with money obtained through fraud, it could be vulnerable to seizure.
My hope that is that the Centre For Effective Altruism could issue some information about their purchase of Wytham Abbey?
Points to be covered might include:
What, precisely, was purchased?
What use is made of it by leaders of the EA movement, employees of CEA and chosen grant-holders?
The justification for this investment, in terms of EA principles, and who signed off on this reasoning within CEA?
What was the source of the funding for the purchase, and what are CEA’s plans are for the future use of the Wytham Abbey estate?
Perhaps all this information is available already, in which case I would very much appreciate it if someone could tell me where it is?
In April, Effective Ventures purchased Wytham Abbey and some land around it (but <1% of the 2,500 acre estate you’re suggesting). Wytham is in the process of being established as a convening centre to run workshops and meetings that bring together people to think seriously about how to address important problems in the world. The vision is modelled on traditional specialist conference centres, e.g. Oberwolfach, The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center or the Brocher Foundation.
The purchase was made from a large grant made specifically for this. There was no money from FTX or affiliated individuals or organizations.
On Wytham Abbey, my understanding is that CEA’s plan has been for it to be a space for events. This makes sense to me, as hosting events is a big part of what CEA does and if you’re doing enough of that sort of thing it makes sense to buy (for both cost and operational efficiency/consistency) instead of renting?
Probably fits max 50-100 people, though I have low certainty and this might change in the future. I think it‘s designed to host smaller events than the above, e.g., cause-area specific conferences/retreats.
They’re relevant in terms of being answers that can be provided now, with no additional information gathering, and no additional legal risk to what there already is from the purchase. (The only risk it seems is reputational.)
I share this concern that everyone will get much less information than they want, which conflicts especially wth the ideals that many EA organisations have of transparency, and integrity.
Clawback laws can be far-reaching, and in recent cases lawyers (e.g., against Bernard Madoff) have managed to recover significant amounts of investors’ money with sufficiently energetic application of these laws.
So, to give a concrete example, The Centre For Effective Altruism reportedly purchased Wytham Abbey—one of the most beautiful large estates of 2,500 acres in Britain—which was on the the market for £15m last year with Savill’s last year.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wallet-whisperer-william-macaskill-strikes-again-vrkfpcq6t
https://www.varenne.fr/files/91410477-f3e6-49a5-a40c-d501dd95550d/The Savills Portfolio.pdf
As well as being a little unclear about how any such a purchase is consistent with the Centre’s altruistic principles in the first place, then if there is the slightest suggestion that any property leases or freehold transfers were funded with money obtained through fraud, it could be vulnerable to seizure.
My hope that is that the Centre For Effective Altruism could issue some information about their purchase of Wytham Abbey?
Points to be covered might include:
What, precisely, was purchased?
What use is made of it by leaders of the EA movement, employees of CEA and chosen grant-holders?
The justification for this investment, in terms of EA principles, and who signed off on this reasoning within CEA?
What was the source of the funding for the purchase, and what are CEA’s plans are for the future use of the Wytham Abbey estate?
Perhaps all this information is available already, in which case I would very much appreciate it if someone could tell me where it is?
Hi — thanks for the question.
In April, Effective Ventures purchased Wytham Abbey and some land around it (but <1% of the 2,500 acre estate you’re suggesting). Wytham is in the process of being established as a convening centre to run workshops and meetings that bring together people to think seriously about how to address important problems in the world. The vision is modelled on traditional specialist conference centres, e.g. Oberwolfach, The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center or the Brocher Foundation.
The purchase was made from a large grant made specifically for this. There was no money from FTX or affiliated individuals or organizations.
On Wytham Abbey, my understanding is that CEA’s plan has been for it to be a space for events. This makes sense to me, as hosting events is a big part of what CEA does and if you’re doing enough of that sort of thing it makes sense to buy (for both cost and operational efficiency/consistency) instead of renting?
Is it big enough for an EAG or EAGx?
I don’t think so: my vague impression is that it’s the right size for a 20-50 person residential workshop/retreat.
Probably fits max 50-100 people, though I have low certainty and this might change in the future. I think it‘s designed to host smaller events than the above, e.g., cause-area specific conferences/retreats.
I too would like to know the answers to your questions about Wytham Abbey, but I’m not sure how they’re relevant to the top level post.
They’re relevant in terms of being answers that can be provided now, with no additional information gathering, and no additional legal risk to what there already is from the purchase. (The only risk it seems is reputational.)