By using the field of anthropology in the US as an example, this fairly lengthy article provides a detailed history of the way that the capitalist ruling class exerts a powerful influence over academia through the use of "philanthropy".
This is another illustration of how the capitalist system, as a system, functions from the top--a self-serving ruling class--down to all the subsystems in order to make this class fabulously rich and powerful regardless of the effects on the rest of society.
...despite the cynical manner by which philanthropic elites have dominated the field of anthropology, the fruits of its study are essential to any radical movement which is intent on eradicating capitalism. The point made in this article is a general one, because in anthropology, as in many other fields of scholarship, class conscious elites have used the power of capital to manage and harness the power of knowledge. What is clear is that knowledge producing networks must be reclaimed by the majority to serve the needs of all humans.