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The LPs in VC firms are rarely "multi-billionaire" individuals. They're generally institutions like school endowments, or pension plans. These institutions absolutely do need a return on their money to support the needs of the organizations they support.

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But do they? Some of these LPs (especially college endowments) are so large that they are the tail that wags the dog.

Yes, they do. CalPERS is way larger than any college endowment....but it also has obligations that are way larger.

I'd make the argument that something like Calpers is quite different to a college or hospital endowment.

Calpers has a huge deficit, whereas Harvard has far more than they're likely to ever spend (especially considering the fact that colleges with the largest endowments also attract enormous donations from wealth individuals).

You're basically making a point about the Harvard endowment and like maybe....5 other college endowments? This is a small percentage of the LP pool, so....not all that important to the discussion.

Isn't a large part of CalPERS problems related to the fact that they ended up being the one holding the potato when the housing crisis started? I thought before that they were very solvent.

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