Shrinking endowments drove Horkheimer to secure Institute assets for himself alone.

Evidence

When the endowment capital began to shrink, from the late 1930s onwards, Horkheimer’s main concern became to reserve a large enough part of the assets early enough to secure his own scholarly work on a long-term basis. Accordingly, Lowenthalin his capacity as one of the trustees of the `foundations’ among which the funds were distributedwas one day asked to transfer $50,000 to a fund with Horkheimer as its sole beneficiary. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 283

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The founding act of the Frankfurt School’s exile turns out to be a private asset grab, which reframes the entire ‘community of Critical Theorists’ narrative.
• XREF: Echoes the earlier detail that Horkheimer’s private wealth funded the Institute through a lifetime annuity — money and theory are entangled. — connects to: Horkheimer moved to secure his own funding as the Institute’s endowment shrank. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1086; Horkheimer prioritized his own scholarly work over the Institute’s common resources as endowment shrank — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1086; Horkheimer’s private wealth funded the Institute through a lifelong annuity — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 445 (+2 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Horkheimer moved to secure his own funding as the Institute’s endowment shrank. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1086; Horkheimer prioritized his own scholarly work over the Institute’s common resources as endowment shrank — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1086; Horkheimer’s private wealth funded the Institute through a lifelong annuity — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 445 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer moved to secure his own funding as the Institute’s endowment shrank. #expands (0.93) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1086
• Horkheimer’s private wealth funded the Institute through a lifelong annuity #complicates (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 445