Novogratz’s Galaxy Adds Brown University Endowment Head to Board

(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. appointed Jane Dietze, the chief investment officer of Brown University, to its board of directors.

Dietz, 57, has been at Brown since 2013 and oversees the university's endowment fund and assets that added up to $6.9 billion as of the end of last June, and which likely include venture capital investments in crypto startups, she said in an interview. Previously, she served as director of private equity at Bowdoin College. She also was managing director of credit funds at Fortress Investment Group, where she oversaw an endowment-style fund for seven years; fellow Fortress veteran Novogratz has known her since his time at the firm. Earlier in her career, Dietze worked at venture funds and co-founded a software company that she sold in 1997.

“I find her smart, curious, she understand our space, I think she is a thought leader in the endowment space,” Novogratz said in an interview. “I think she helps credentialize us with the endowment space.”

Dietze's appointment comes as New York-based Galaxy -- which is already trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange -- hopes to list on the Nasdaq this quarter, despite a recent downturn in cryptocurrency prices. Even after the uptick of the past week, Bitcoin is down 35% from its all-time high in early November.

“My value to Galaxy is just bringing an institutional investor perspective,” Dietze said. “What would an endowment or another institution want from Galaxy? I can provide that perspective.”

In the fiscal year ended last June, Brown's fund posted a 51.5% annual return, the largest gain in dollars in the history of the endowment. The endowment doesn't disclose its exact investments. About 13% of U.S. endowments and foundations invest in digital assets, per the Fidelity Digital Assets 2021 Institutional Investor Digital Assets Study.