The Golden Touch of Stanford’s President

by E Wayne Ross on February 26, 2007

The Wall Street Journal: The Golden Touch of Stanford’s President

In the month of November, John L. Hennessy, president of Stanford University, made $1 million. It didn’t come from his day job.

Mr. Hennessy, an engineer who co-founded a semiconductor company, has used his talents, Silicon Valley connections and academic position to help win billions of dollars for Stanford. He has done well for himself, too. Mr. Hennessy’s November haul included a $75,000 retainer from Cisco Systems Inc., on whose board he sits, plus $133,000 in restricted Cisco stock, proceeds of $452,000 from selling stock in Atheros Communications Inc., where he is co-founder and chairman, and a $384,000 profit from …