Chase Coleman III named world's top hedge fund manager

Descendant of the last Dutch governor of New York Peter Stuyvestant is the world’s best hedge fund manager making $3bn last year as new figures show the top 15 financial executives collectively added $23.2bn to their personal fortunes

  • Chase Coleman III topped Bloomberg’s annual list of the top 15 earners
  • The 45-year-old helms Tiger Global Management, which has invested in tech firms that have ballooned in value this year amid the pandemic 
  • Collectively, the wealth of the 15 hedge fund managers on the list is more than the GDP of Iceland or Zambia,
  • The massive earnings by hedge fund owners came in a year which saw the global economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic  

A descendant of the last Dutch governor of New York has been named the world’s top hedge fund manager after adding billions to his personal fortune this year.

Chase Coleman III topped Bloomberg’s annual list of the top 15 earners of 2020, making $3billion this year, according to the outlet’s Billionaires Index.

Collectively, the 15 hedge fund managers on the list added $23.2billion to their personal fortunes in a year which saw the global economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Coleman’s personal pay last year was more than the gross domestic product of dozens of countries including Gambia, Bhutan and Eritrea, The Guardian reported, citing International Monetary Fund figures.  

Chase Coleman III (left) topped Bloomberg ‘s annual list of the top 15 earners of 2020, making $3billion this year, according to the outlet’s Billionaires Index. Pictured: Coleman and his wife Stephanie at a fundraiser in New York in 2016 [File photo]

It is reportedly the biggest single-year’s pay for an individual since 2010, when John Paulson, another hedge fund manager, made $5bn betting on the economy’s recovery after the financial crisis. 

Coleman, 45, already has an estimated fortune of $4.5bn, according to Forbes, which ranked him as the 458th richest person in the world in 2019.

He is the founder of Tiger Global Management (TGM), which he set up at just 24 years old after being given the $25million seed money by Julian Robertson, the founder of Tiger Management, when he closed his fund in 2000.

Coleman, who grew up in the affluent Glen Head community on Long Island, connected with Robertson through his son Spencer, who he was good friends with.

TGM gained big investing heavily in tech stocks, which have ballooned in value this year as the world moved increasingly online during the pandemic.

PayPal, Alphabet, Peloton and remote-working platforms Zoom and Slack were among the companies TGM invested in as was Facebook, which made the fund a nearly $1bn return on its early investment.

Coleman owns several homes including a sprawling property in Southampton, New York (pictured) and an apartment near Central Park thought to be worth more than $100m

Coleman is a descendent of Peter Stuyvestant (pictured), the last Dutch governor of New York who ordered the construction of the wall after which Wall Street is named. Stuyvestant surrendered New Amsterdam, now New York, to the English in 1664

While he has largely invested in new technologies, Coleman’s wealth goes back generations.

He is a descendent of Peter Stuyvestant, the last Dutch governor of New York who ordered the construction of the wall after which Wall Street is named.

Stuyvestant surrendered New Amsterdam, now New York, to the English in 1664. 

Coleman married Stephanie Ercklentz in 2005. The couple have several homes including an apartment near Central Park thought to be worth more than $100m, according to The Guardian. 

Ercklentz is the daughter of banker and industrialist Enno Ercklentz. In 2018, the couple invited guests to vandalize their apartment ahead of a massive renovation.

Coleman is a major donor to the Republican party and supported Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign. He has also donated to Democratic candidates including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. 

All 15 of the hedge fund managers on Bloomberg’s list are men and their combined wealth is equivalent to more than the gross domestic product of Iceland or Zambia, according to The Guardian. 

Which hedge fund managers won big in 2020? 

1. Chase Coleman III (Tiger Global Management) – $3billion 

2. Jim Simons (Renaissance Technologies) – $2.6billion

3. Israel Englander (Millennium Management) – $2.2billion

4. Stephen Mandel (Lone Pine) – $1.8billion

5. Ken Griffin (Citadel) – $1.8billion

6. Philippe Laffont (Coatue) – $1.7billion

7. Steve Coehn (Point72) – $1.6billion

8. Jeff Talpins (Element) – $1.3billion

9. Bill Ackman (Pershing Square) – $1.3billion

10. Dan Sunheim (D1) – $1.1billion

11. Chris Hohn (TCI) $1billion

12. Joe Edelman (Perceptive) – $969million

13. Andreas Halvorsen (Viking) – $923million

14. David Shaw (D.E. Shaw) – $856million

15. Gabe Plotkin (Melvin) – $846million

 

Source: Bloomberg 

Renaissance Technologies’ Jim Simons came in second place having made $2.6billion, while Israel Englander of Millennium Management was ranked third with $2.2billion.

Other entrants included New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, who made $1.6billion at Point 72 and Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman, who made billions for the fund betting that stock markets would collapse early in the pandemic. Ackman took home $1.3billion.  

The rewards are ‘unlike anything the hedge-fund industry has ever seen,’ Bloomberg reported, with experts noting that the earnings illustrate the gulf between the super rich and the rest of the world more starkly than ever due to the pandemic which has ravaged many businesses and drained personal savings.

Several of those who won big in 2020 have already faced huge losses this year after Reddit users coordinated to bid up stocks that some US funds had bet against. 

Gabe Plotkin, who came in at number 15 on Bloomberg’s 2020 list, having made about $850million, lost an estimated $460million personally due to the rally. 

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