Philanthropy

Malcolm Gladwell slams John Paulson's gift to Harvard

John Paulson donates $400M to Harvard
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John Paulson donates $400M to Harvard

No good deed goes unpunished. Apparently no donation does either.

That's what billionaire money manager and Harvard Business School alumnus, John Paulson, learned after he presented the university with the largest gift ever received in school history.

The record $400 million donation apparently rubbed bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell the wrong way, sparking a more than hour-long rant on Twitter bashing Paulson's decision. (Tweet This)

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Gladwell continued by mockingly presenting another philanthropic endeavor for Mr. Paulson:

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... And another:

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Gladwell then questioned why Harvard, which has an endowment larger than $30 billion, might need the gift.

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To top it off, the author threw one last jab at Paulson nearly an hour after the rant began:

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Gladwell had previously addressed fans at the Harvard Bookstore next to the university's campus for a book signing in April where he was promoting his new book, "David and Goliath Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants."

Gladwell has focused on aspects of sociology and physiology in previous works, such as the international bestseller, "The Tipping Point." In 2009 Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker called out Gladwell's works for cherry picking anecdotes and presenting false dichotomies that overgeneralize observations in a New York Times op-ed.