Following up on my previous posts:
-
Moritz Family Fights Ohio State Over Undisclosed 1% Annual Development Fee Charged Against Naming Gift To Law School, As Endowment Has Shrunk From $30m To $22m In 17 Years (Sept. 18, 2018)
- Moritz Family Seeks To Reopen Estate To Enforce Terms Of Ohio State Law School Naming Agreement (June 23, 2020)
Cleveland.com, Ohio Legislature Again Rejects Proposal to Allow Donors to Sue Over College Endowments:
The Moritz family, after whom Ohio State University’s law school is named, has tried for years to convince the legislature to change a state law barring benefactors from suing colleges when their donations aren’t used as intended.
But the family’s latest effort has again failed. …
In June 2001, OSU law school alum Mike Moritz, who has since died, signed an agreement with Ohio State, agreeing to provide $30 million if OSU invested the money as a permanent endowment and used the earnings for four purposes, including providing 30 law students each year full-tuition scholarships and stipends. …
Seven years ago, Jeff Moritz discovered the school never provided 30 scholarships during any of the 19 years it had the money. He discovered the value of the endowment decreased from $30.3 million in 2001 to $21.9 million in 2016. During the time, Jeff Moritz figures the fund should have grown to over $50 million, he said. …
Jeff Moritz accused OSU of spending the endowment to pay large bonuses to employees in the advancement office and on hosting exclusive galas aimed at wooing future potential donors.
He tried to begin litigation against OSU through his father’s estate for not honoring the details of the endowment contract, but he lost in court. …
OSU spokesman Chris Booker disagreed with Jeff Moritz’s view that the money was poorly invested.
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