Doocy: This surprised a lot of people at the White House
Fox News correspondent Madeleine Rivera discusses President Donald Trump's upcoming 'Liberation Day' as the president is set to unveil new reciprocal tariffs
4:29
https://youtu.be/3U4Du8PK-KE
Kid Rock spills details from ‘weirdly’ awesome dinner with Trump, Bill Maher, Kid Rock and Dana White
Musician Kid Rock joins ‘Varney & Co.’ details his recent podcast interview with Bill Maher and weighs in on President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
5:50
https://youtu.be/4kAQMniiGAU
Inside Wealth:Federal funding cuts are raising questions about university endowments. Here’s what some are worth and how they workPublished Tue, Apr 1 20257:00 AM EDT1/2
Key Points
• Columbia is one of the richest universities with a $14.8 billion endowment.
• Still, using these funds to cover federal funding cuts isn’t as simple as smashing a piggy bank.
• Academic experts and former university officials told CNBC how endowments work and why some of them are so large.
Columbia University
In early March, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University over its handling of pro-Palestinian protests last year. The federal government sent the university a list of demands, such as suspending or expelling students who participated in the demonstrations. Columbia agreed to the demands.
The funds are still being withheld, with the federal task force stating that Columbia’s concessions represent only the “first step.”Dozens of medical and scientific studies at Columbia are in limbo. The Department of Health and Human Services did not reply to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the university is facing growing backlash, with several critics arguing that Columbia should use its immense endowment to cover the shortfall rather than capitulate. One such op-ed in the New York Times was accompanied by a photo of a smashed piggy bank.
Why some universities are so rich
Columbia has an endowment of $14.8 billion, the 12th largest university endowment in the U.S., according to a study by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, or NACUBO, and asset manager Commonfund. The study found658 institutions had endowments totaling $873.7 billion. This wealth is highly concentrated, with 86% held by a fifth of surveyed universities.
Sheer size isn’t the only measure of Columbia’s financial resources. While Columbia’s endowment ranks behind those of some public universities, the Ivy League school has a much smaller student body, averaging nearly $500,000 in endowments per student.The University of Texas, on the other hand, has less than half as much per student despitehaving a $47.5 billion endowment. But endowments, especially at wealthier institutions, alsohave a substantial portion of illiquid assets.
In the case of Columbia’s endowment, whileglobal equitiesmake up the largest ]]allocation (31%), private equity and real assets represent 26% and 12%]], respectively. Fixed income and cash make up only 2% and 1%, respectively, and the remaining28% is allocated to absolute return strategy funds, which include hedge fundsand a portion of which is also illiquid, according to audit documents.
Education historian Bruce Kimball credits much of the wealth concentration to universities’ willingness to invest in riskier assets. Traditionally, university endowments were invested very conservatively. When Harvard shifted its allocation to 60% equities and 40% bonds in 1951, it was considered a bold move. In the ’70s, the Ford Foundation guided a few wealthy universities away from dividend-paying stocks to growth stocks.
“Universities that didn’t want to assume the risk fell behind,” said Kimball, emeritus professor of philosophy and history of education at the Ohio State University.
In the 1990s,Yale University started investing in alternative assetslike hedge funds and natural resources. This “Yale Model” proved lucrative, but only universities with large endowments could afford to take on the risk and due diligence that come with alternative investments, according to Kimball.
Why endowments aren’t piggy banks
At universities large and small, endowments aren’t slush funds. The endowments areactually made up of hundreds or even thousands of funds, and the majority of those arerestricted by donors, to areas such as professorships, scholarships or research.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/01/how-university-endowments-work.html
2/2
“Most of thatmoney was put in for a specific purpose,” said Scott Bok, former chairman of the University of Pennsylvania. “Universities don’t have the ability to break open the proverbial piggy bank and just grab the money in whatever way they want.”
Endowments often follow a custom of only spending 5% annually, also a practice dating back to the 1970s, according to economist and former Northwestern University president Morton Schapiro. Assuming high single-digit percentage investment returns, spending only 5% allows the principal of the endowment to grow and keep pace with inflation.
Universityadministrations often point to donor restrictionswhen pressed to increase spending. But Schapiro saidthis excuse is overplayed. “It’s true that a lot of money is restricted, but it’s restricted to things you’re going to spend on already like need-based aid, study abroad, libraries,” he said.
Furthermore, some funds are not subject to donor restrictions but rather are earmarked by universities for specific purposes.“It’s not really restricted,” said Schapiro of these quasi-endowments. “You could actually spend it at whatever rate that you really want.”
And while most states have guidelines on how endowment assets are spent,few have a set range or cap on spending, according to Brian Galle, professor of tax policy at Georgetown Law. It is also possible to get court approval to increase spending and use restricted endowments if it is crucial to the university’s mission, Galle said.
It is possible for universities to increase their endowment spending during times of crisis. Several did during the pandemic, including Northwestern and Penn. Donors can also give their written consent to lift endowment restrictions, according to Micah Malouf, special counsel at Schell Bray. That said, while the restrictions may be exaggerated, the financial obligations are real, Kimball said.Colleges allocate nearly half their endowment spending to student financial aid, according to the NACUBO study.
Kimball describedspending endowments or endowment income to cover short-term as “imprudent.” He compared the scenario to an employer canceling a prerequisite expense and asking employees to cover it with their savings and income. “That regular salary is already earmarked for other purposes, so you would have to cut back on food, rent, etc.,” he said.
Depleting the endowment could come at the cost of future cash flow, as the university has less to invest. But Galle told CNBC thathe believes this reasoning doesn’t hold water.“When your roof is leaking, you don’t say, ‘I’m not going to spend the money now, because then I won’t be able to buy an umbrella in three years,’” he said.
Schapiro, who retired from Northwestern in 2022, said it’s easier to justify spending more of the endowment when coming off a strong market, which is currently the case. However, it depends on how long the university’s shortfall is expected to last. “If it’s going to be long term, you’re just delaying the inevitable,” he said.
There are other threats to college’s finances
There is no telling when or if the funding will be restored. The National Institute of Health is alsoimplementing a 15% cap on research reimbursements for indirect costs, such as support staff wages and lab maintenance. Other storm clouds loom overhead, said Bok, who resigned from Penn in late 2023. For starters,several members of Congress have proposed increasing an endowment taxthat currently only applies to some 50 universities.
Since the first Trump administration, private universities that meet certain conditions, such as assets of $500,000 or more per full-time student, have been subject to a 1.4% tax on net investment income. One proposal would raise the rate to 21%, and another would increase the rate to 10% but lower the endowments per student threshold to $200,000, which would subject far more universities to the tax.
Adding to the challenges,many colleges are financially dependent on international students, who typically pay full tuition. International student enrollment decreased during the first Trump administration and international applications recently dropped for the first time in five years, according to Common App data. All these challenges make for a perfect storm, Bok said.
“I think universities are going to be reluctant to say, ‘Oh, we’ll just draw down more in the endowment’ because it can fill a small hole but it can’t fill a big hole,” Bok said. “There might actually be a big hole by time all these things play out.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/01/how-university-endowments-work.html
Newsmax Stock Booms Day After Massive IPO — Making Network Founder an Overnight Billionaire
Alex GriffingApr 1st, 2025, 11:33 am
Bloomberg radio host Lisa Mateo marveled at Newsmax’s stunning stock price jump on Tuesday morningfollowing the pro-Trump cable network’s booming IPO on Monday.
The network sold $75 million worth of shares for $10 each in Monday’s initial public offering, which saw the stock close at a whopping $83.51. The massive haul made Newsmax founder and CEO Christopher Ruddy an overnight billionaire.
“Ruddy’s 39.2 million class A shares, owned through a revocable trust, have 10 votes each, giving him control of 81% of the company’s votes. He didn’t sell any shares in the New York Stock Exchange offering,” reported Bloomberg News on Monday night, noting that Ruddy ended the day with some $3.3 billion in stock after the share price jumped 735%. CNBC reported that on Tuesday morning, the stock jumped another 100%.
“I want to start with Newsmax because the stock’s still extending its gains. This is after a jump of 735%.They had its IPO debut Monday, NMAX, that’s a ticker, N-M-A-X. They raised $75 million in the offering. Their share price gives the company a market value of more than $10.7 billion, and it was actually among the 25 most actively traded on Fidelity’s platform,” reported Mateo on Tuesday morning as the stock price jumped as high as $191.
“But what’s really interesting, the founder, Christopher Ruddy, he’s now a billionaire. He’s sitting on $3.3 billion fortune.And the news network actually lost 72 million in 2024. That was on revenue of about 171 million,but shares are still on the rise this morning,” Mateo added, noting the Newsmax’s financials are not stellar.
One of Mateo’s co-hosts asked if this is a “meme thing.”
She quickly replied, “No,” and added, “In the article, they were saying it seemed like that. It seemed like the whole GameStop– kind of exploded. But its shares are still higher right now.”
As of middayTuesday, Newsmax stock was trading above $140, ballooning Ruddy’s network well above $5 billion.
https://www.mediaite.com/news/newsmax-stock-booms-day-after-massive-ipo-making-network-founder-an-overnight-billionaire/
Fox News Just Hit Its Highest-Rated Quarter In Network History
Alex Griffing Apr 1st, 2025, 12:57 pm
Fox News surged to record heights in the first quarter of 2025, crushing its industry rivals and notching its highest-ever total day ratings and a record share of the cable news audience.
While Fox averaged some 1.92 million total day viewers, rivals CNN and MSNBC were down to 428,000 and 593,000 total day average viewers for the quarter, respectively.Fox, therefore, accounted for 65% of the total day cable news audience in the U.S. and 66% of the total prime time viewership.
In prime time,Fox averaged a whopping 3 million total viewers, while CNN and MSNBC brought in 558,000 and 1 million average viewers= respectively. On the whole, the first quarter of 2025 offers mixed news for the cable news industry as Fox saw significant gains compared to the first quarter of 2024, while CNN and MSNBC both saw drops.
In total day,Fox is up 48% compared to the first quarter of 2024 in total viewers and an impressive 58% in the key 25-54 age demographic. CNN, meanwhile, is down 8% in total viewers and 7% in the demo. MSNBC, however, was down significantly, dropping 27% in the total day viewers and 30% in the total day demo. The trend was similar for prime time, Fox gaining 46% in total viewers and 63% in the demo – a very strong sign that Fox is increasing its share of younger viewers favored by advertisers.
CNN dropped 6% in total prime time viewersand 1% in the prime time demo.MSNBC, meanwhile, was down 18% in total prime time viewers and 21% in prime timedemo viewers, compared to the same quarter last year.
Fox’s boom in the demo has also led to the networkattracting a slew of new blue-chip advertisers, with over 125 major companies signing up to buy ads. Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Netflix, and UBS are just some of the major global brands that will now run ads on the network, which once lost advertisers due to content-related scandals.
“Historically, after an election, networks will see ratings dips. (It’s the Trump Bump!). When we saw an acceleration in ratings, we saw new advertisers coming in,” Jeff Collins, Fox Corp’s president of ad sales, recently told the Financial Times.
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch also pointed to a shift in the political climate as being behind the corporate shift toward the network. “Because of the election results, many advertisers have sort of rethought their positioning in this country and understand that the Fox News viewer really does represent middle America — and they’re responding with their cheque books,” Lachlan Murdoch told FT.
Among Fox’songoing success stories is The Five, which broke yet another record for being the top-rated show on cable news – despite airing outside of prime time.
The Five averaged a booming 4.6 million viewers for the quarter, with 499,000 demo viewers, making it the most-watched show on cable news for the 14th straight quarter, as well as one of the most-watched shows on cable.Fox’s Bret Baier also saw a major ratings boost, jumping 58% with total viewers and 89% in the demoyear over year for the quarter.Baier, notably, beat the CBS Evening News four different times in the ratings for the quarter.
In total,Fox averaged 14 of the top 15 showson cable news for the quarter, with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow breaking into the top 15. (I doubt that HIGHLY)
https://www.mediaite.com/news/fox-news-just-hit-its-highest-rated-quarter-in-network-history/
(I love this article, Fake News sinking like an old ship from ancient times.
FOX the most hated news in legacy news.)
‘Yeah It Was Great!’ Reporters on Air Force One Approve When Trump Asks if They Had ‘A Great Time This Weekend’
Tommy Christopher Mar 31st, 2025, 11:30 am
President Donald Trump received a friendly welcome and positive reviewswhen he asked reporters aboard Air Force One if they “had a great time” covering him over the weekend.
The White House press corps has undergone some drastic changes since Trump took office for the second time. Right off the bat, Trump banned the Associated Press for ignoring his demand they refer to The Gulf of Mexico as The Gulf of America.
Then, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced her press shop would be taking over press pool assignments from the White House Correspondents’ Association and instituted a “new media seat” for independent and often strongly pro-Trump outlets.
The White House is now reportedly set to take over seating arrangements in the briefing room from the WHCA as well.
But reporters traveling with Trump seem to have found a way to keep things friendly and keep Trump talking. On his way back from Mar-a-Lago Sunday, Trump emerged into the press cabin on Air Force Oneto take questions from reporters, which is a much more frequent event this time aroundand much more so than with prior presidents.(Yeah they are actually being polite and not snarky, the snarky ones go. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar.)
As soon as Trump came into viewhe was greeted by a cheerful chorusof greetings:
REPORTER: Hello!
REPORTER: Hello, Mr. President!
REPORTER: Hi, Mr. President!
REPORTER: Hello, Mr. President!
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We had a good time this weekend?
REPORTER: Yeah, it was great!
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We had a lot of very interesting things happen and I think we’re making a lot of progress on Ukraine and Russia. There’s always conflict but I think we’re making a lot of progress getting it stopped.
I just want to see thousands of soldiers a week stop dying. Because they’re dying in numbers that we haven’t seen probably since the Second World War.
Trump then took questions for about 13 minutes, including several exchanges about running for another term.
According to pool reports, the press pooldid not see the president all weekend until he got to the airport.
(He is the president and CiC, and he gives questions to them 2-5 times a day at different events and especial in the Oval Office, when signing EO’s)
https://www.mediaite.com/news/yeah-it-was-great-reporters-on-air-force-one-approve-when-trump-asks-if-they-had-a-great-time-this-weekend/
Kid Rock reveals key details from Trump's meeting with Bill Maher
Award-winning singer Kid Rock joins 'Fox & Friends' to explain why he arranged for political commentator Bill Maher to meet with President Donald Trump and shares takeaways from the meeting. (this is another FOX in the am, not Varney)
(I bet you Bill Maher is still sitting at home asking himself,how he can like Trump so much now, and afraid to go out or speak with anyone.He keeps saying to himself, "I should have hated him, but I like him.")
4:16
https://youtu.be/w8AyE2b4K3w