Future Head Of NYU Board Of Trustees Made Millions Off Student Loans

Over the summer, William R. Berkley was announced the future successor of Martin Lipton as chair of the Board of Trustees. NYU’s public statement describes him as a generous man, who has “the success of the University—its faculty, students, administrators, and staff—never far from the forefront of his thoughts.” A New York Times article describes him as a billionaire “ranked 29th on Forbes’s list of best-compensated chief executive officers.” Most articles and statements mention his time as CEO of W.R. Berkley Corporation, a large insurance company.

But a notable fact the press and NYU administration seem to have left out of their materials is that, for 16 years, Berkley served as a member of the Board of Directors of First Marblehead Corporation, a Boston-based private student loans firm. Eight of those years were spent as lead director of the Board.

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