According to Forbes the world’s richest are $200 billion poorer than last year, no need to cry for them, they are still worth $2.1 trillion. One group of billionaires that got richer was hedge fund managers. There is an advantage when you can buy and sell in falling markets after all. The 20 richest hedge fund billionaires on Forbes’ 2023 World’s Billionaires list are worth $245 billion, up $4 billion from a year ago. Forbes counts 47 hedge fund billionaires who have a combined net worth of $312 billion, up slightly from the same number in 2022 who were worth $310 billion.
Breaking that down there is a clear breaking away from the field from those that got the market turmoil of the past few years.
Ken Griffin leads the pack, he’s worth an estimated $35 billion, $7.8 billion more than a year ago and nearly triple what he was worth in 2020. His fund Citadel posted the most profitable year of any hedge fund in history. Jim Simons, who founded quantitative trading firm Renaissance Technologies is second and is worth an estimated $28.1 billion. No. 3 is Ray Dalio, the retired founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. Dalio has an estimated net worth of $19.1 billion.
Top 20 richest hedge fund managers on Forbes’ 2023 World’s Billionaires list:
Net Worth as of March 10, 2023
- Ken Griffin Net worth: $35 billion
- Jim Simons Net worth: $28.1 billion
- Ray Dalio Net worth: $19.1 billion
- David Tepper Net worth: $18.5 billion
- Steve Cohen Net worth: $17.5 billion
- Carl Icahn Net worth: $17.5 billion
- Michael Platt Net worth: $16 billion
- Israel Englander Net worth: $11.5 billion
- Chase Coleman Net worth: $8.5 billion
- Jim Simons Net worth: $7.9 billion
- Paul Tudor Jones Net Worth: $7.5 billion
- Philippe Laffont Net worth: $6.9 billion
- John Overdeck Net worth: $6.8 billion
- David Siegel Net worth: $6.8 billion
- Christopher Hohn Net worth: $6.7 billion
- George Soros Net worth: $6.7 billion
- Bruce Kovner Net worth: $6.6 billion
- Stanley Druckenmiller Net worth: $6.4 billion
- Andreas Halvorsen Net worth: $5.9 billion
- Paul Singer Net worth: $5.5 billion
Who Lost in 2022/23
Hedge fund managers specializing in long tech investments that had enjoyed an extended run of success in the bull market following the 2008 financial crisis struggled in the past year.
- Tech-heavy firm Tiger Global’s hedge fund declined by 56% last year, though the majority of its assets are now in its venture funds, and founder Chase Coleman’s net worth is down to an estimated $8.5 billion, from $10.3 billion a year ago.
- Fellow “Tiger Cub” Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global Investors fell 18% in its long-only fund, though its long-short fund remained relatively steady with a 2% drop, pushing Halvorsen’s net worth down to $5.9 billion, from $6.5 billion.
Top 20 Highlights via Forbes:
1. Ken Griffin
Net worth: $35 billion
Firm: Citadel
Griffin’s Citadel has become the envy of the hedge fund industry after several years of outperformance have separated it from its peers. Griffin founded the multi-strategy firm in 1990, and it now manages $57 billion in assets. His market-making firm Citadel Securities, founded in 2002, is also a revenue-generating machine, handling more than 25% of all U.S. stock trades.
2. Jim Simons
Net worth: $28.1 billion
Firm: Renaissance Technologies
Simons founded Long Island-based Renaissance Technologies in 1982. His esteemed quantitative trading firm, which manages some $50 billion in assets, is famous for its Medallion Fund, a $10 billion black-box strategy that is only open to Renaissance owners and employees. Though Simons officially retired in 2010, he is still involved at the firm and continues to benefit from its funds.
3. Ray Dalio
Net worth: $19.1 billion
Firm: Bridgewater Associates
Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates in 1975 out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York and turned it into the world’s largest hedge fund firm. He retired as co-CEO of Bridgewater in 2017 and stepped away as chairman and co-chief investment officer in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and the firm’s assets have taken a hit during the transition. Today Bridgewater manages $124 billion in assets, down from $168 billion at its peak at the end of 2019.
4. David Tepper
Net worth: $18.5 billion
Firm: Appaloosa Management
Tepper runs Appaloosa Management, which boasted annualized returns of 25% in its first 25 years. He steadily returned money to clients over the last decade and now operates Appaloosa as a family office with $14 billion in assets, according to LCH Investments. He bought the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in 2018 for $2.3 billion.
5. Steve Cohen
Net worth: $17.5 billion
Firm: Point72 Management
Cohen founded hedge fund Point72 Asset Management, which has $27 billion of assets under management. The firm started managing outside capital in 2018, following a two-year supervisory ban stemming from insider-trading charges leveled at Cohen’s previous firm, SAC Capital. Cohen bought the New York Mets baseball team for $2.4 billion in 2020 and has spent freely on high-profile free agents to make the franchise a championship contender.
6. Carl Icahn
Net worth: $17.5 billion
Firm: Icahn Enterprises
The activist investor has been making an impact on corporate America for decades, and shares of his primary investing vehicle, Icahn Enterprises, rose slightly in 2021. He made a profit of approximately $250 million buying Twitter stock after Elon Musk signed a merger agreement to buy the company and said he would have considered waging a proxy fight if the deal fell through. This March, Icahn launched a proxy battle with Illumina, nominating three directors to the board and pushing the DNA sequencing company to divest its $7.1 billion 2021 acquisition of healthcare firm Grail.
7. Michael Platt
Net worth: $16 billion
Firm: BlueCrest Capital Management
Platt is the cofounder and CEO of BlueCrest Capital Management, which he started in 2000 after nearly a decade at JPMorgan. At its peak in 2013, BlueCrest was one of the world’s largest hedge funds, with more than $35 billion of assets under management. After a push into equities and poor results led to investor exits, he returned outside investors’ money in 2015, remaking the firm into a family office. It has flourished since then, generating at least 25% returns every year, including a 95% net return in 2020 and 153% in 2022.
8. Israel Englander
Net worth: $11.5 billion
Firm: Millennium Management
Izzy Englander founded Millennium Management in 1989 with $35 million from friends and family. Today, his hedge fund firm manages $58 billion. Its main multi-strategy fund returned 12.4% in 2022—generating $8 billion in net gains for investors, according to LCH Investments.
9. Chase Coleman
Net worth: $8.5 billion
Firm: Tiger Global Management
He founded Tiger Global in 2001. It flew high for its first two decades, boasting an annualized net return of 21% in its hedge fund through 2021, but it gave more than half those cumulative gains back in 2022 with a brutal 56% loss as tech markets cooled. Most of Tiger Global’s assets are now in its venture funds, which it reportedly marked down by one-third last year as well.
10. Jim Simons
Net worth: $7.9 billion
Firm: D.E. Shaw & Co.
A former computer science professor at Columbia University, Shaw founded his quantitative hedge fund, D.E. Shaw, in 1988. Known for using sophisticated mathematical modeling and algorithms, the fund now manages more than $60 billion in assets. Shaw stepped away from day-to-day operations in 2002, leaving an executive committee to oversee the firm.
11. Paul Tudor Jones
Net Worth: $7.5 billion
Firm: Tudor Investment Corp.
12. Philippe Laffont
Net worth: $6.9 billion
Firm: Coatue Management
13. John Overdeck
Net worth: $6.8 billion
Firm: Two Sigma Investments
13. David Siegel
Net worth: $6.8 billion
Firm: Two Sigma Investments
15. Christopher Hohn
Net worth: $6.7 billion
Firm: The Children’s Investment Fund
16. George Soros
Net worth: $6.7 billion
Firm: Soros Fund Management
17. Bruce Kovner
Net worth: $6.6 billion
Firm: Caxton Associates
18. Stanley Druckenmiller
Net worth: $6.4 billion
Firm: Duquesne Capital Management
19. Andreas Halvorsen
Net worth: $5.9 billion
Firm: Viking Global Investors
20. Paul Singer
Net worth: $5.5 billion
Firm: Elliott Management
Source: Forbes
From The TradersCommunity Research Desk