Harvard University closed the book on the era of Jack Meyer, the money manager whose market-beating returns built the world’s biggest endowment, by cutting his pay.

Mr. Meyer, 60, earned $6 million as chief executive officer of Harvard Management Co. in the fiscal year ended June 30, down from $7.2 million in 2004. Mr. Meyer and his top five lieutenants made a combined $56.8 million, a 28% reduction, the Cambridge, Mass., school said in a statement on Wednesday.

Harvard was criticized by alumni last year for paying excessive salaries to its investment staff, wasting money that could used be used for scholarships, new buildings, and teachers’ pay. Mr. Meyer stepped down in September to start hedge fund Convexity Capital Management LP, taking about 30 colleagues with him. Mr. Meyer has said the complaints about compensation played a role in his decision to leave Harvard.

“The basic fact is that it’s difficult to run money in a Wall Street fashion, if you will, if you don’t pay Wall Street wages,” the executive director of the research and education center the Commonfund Institute, John Griswold, said.

Commonfund invests about $34 billion for American schools and nonprofit institutions.

Harvard’s $25.9 billion endowment returned 19.2% in 2005, ranking third among the 25 richest American colleges, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Yale University, whose $15.2 billion fund is managed by David Swensen, topped the list at 22.3%, followed by Stanford University at 19.5%. Mr. Swensen, 51, was paid $1.2 million in 2004.