I Top 5 Richest Hedge-Fund Managers

Billionaires

Top 5 Richest Hedge-Fund Managers

The five members of this all-boys club are Americans with a self-made score of eight by Forbes. Figures are as of June 10, 2021.

The unusually strong performance of hedge funds in 2020 marked a significant reversal. A report by Citco Funds Services found that all hedge fund strategies and assets under administration categories delivered positive returns last year, and the momentum has spilled over to 2021. In the first quarter, 73.4% of funds delivered a positive annual return.

Jim Simons

Founder, Renaissance Technologies Corp. NET WORTH: $24.6 billion Simons, one of the most famous quantitative traders ever, founded Renaissance Technologies in 1982 and still plays an important role even though he retired from day-today operations in 2010. Today, the esteemed quantitative trading hedge fund manages about $55 billion. The firm is well-known for its flagship Medallion Fund, a $10 billion black-box strategy exclusively open to Renaissance owners and employees. Last year, the Medallion Fund returned 76%, earning Simons $2.6 billion in compensation. The 83-year-old has donated $2.7 billion to causes, including autism research. His foundation is the primary funder of Math For America.

Ray Dalio

Founder and Co-CIO, Bridgewater Associates NET WORTH: $20.3 billion Dalio is the founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund firm, Bridgewater Associates, which manages roughly $150 billion. He launched the company in 1975 after earning an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 2018, he

Steve Cohen

turned the company into a partnership and offered employees more of a stake in the firm. Bridgewater is known for its transparent culture, including encouraging dissent, openly airing disagreements, and recording all meetings. The 71-year-old has donated more than $850 million to charitable causes. His Dalio foundation has supported microfinance and inner-city education.

Ken Griffin

Founder and CEO, Citadel NET WORTH: $16.1 billion Griffin sits at the helm of Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund firm he founded in 1990. However, he first began trading from his Harvard dorm room in 1987. Today, Citadel manages approximately $34 billion in assets. Griffin also established Citadel Securities, one of Wall Street’s biggest market-making firms, responsible for one of the five stock trades in the U.S. The 52-year-old—and the youngest person on this list—is an avid property buyer, snapping up high-priced homes in London, New York, and Palm Beach for millions. He has donated over $1 billion in his lifetime, including more than $300 million to nonprofits in Chicago.

Steve Cohen

Founder, Point72 Asset Management NET WORTH: $16 billion Cohen leads Point72 Asset Management, a $16 billion hedge fund firm that begun managing outside capital in 2018. He previously ran SAC Capital, which was forced to close after the firm pleaded guilty to insider trading charges. The penalty cost Cohen $1.8 billion. In 2014, SAC converted its investment operations to Point72. Earlier this year, Cohen helped bail out Melvin Capital after its sizable and disastrous short of GameStop. The 64-year-old has given $715 million to philanthropic causes over his lifetime, including causes related to veterans and children’s health.

David Tepper

Founder and President, Appaloosa Management NET WORTH: $14.5 billion Tepper founded Appaloosa Management in 1993 after getting passed over for a partner when he led the junk-bond desk at Goldman Sachs. Today, the hedge fund firm manages nearly $13 billion, down from a peak of $20 billion. The hedge fund manager grew up in Pittsburgh, went to Carnegie Mellon University, and is a minority investor in the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 63-year-old gifted $67 million to Carnegie Mellon University, sponsoring the David Tepper Quadrangle, a building to create a collaborative learning environment.

Reach For The Clouds

Lana Khalaf, Microsoft’s country manager for Qatar, explains how the tech giant’s cloud infrastructure is helping the country to accelerate its digital transformation.

How is Microsoft working with Qatar and what is the aim of the partnership? Qatar’s forward-looking approach and the ambitions expressed through the Qatar National Vision 2030 speak to the ideology of transformation by design and not by chance. In partnership with the State of Qatar, we have brought Microsoft Cloud to the country, enabling enterprises to innovate and accelerate their digital transformation, while transforming the country into a digital hub for the region and the world.

Can you elaborate on the benefits of the new Microsoft data center? The new Microsoft cloud region will deliver unprecedented opportunity for public and private enterprises in Qatar to enhance their competitive edge and contribute to the nation’s digital transformation goals. Enterprises of all sizes and in all sectors, will have access to the latest, largest, and most advanced cloud services in the region, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things.

According to a study from IDC, Microsoft’s cloud investment in Qatar will lead to a $3.4 billion opportunity over the next five years and create more than 24,000 new jobs. There is a sustainability advantage too; Microsoft cloud services are up to 93% more energy efficient and up to 98% more carbon efficient than those of traditional enterprise data centers. How has Microsoft already supported Qatar’s digital ambitions? During the coronavirus pandemic, Qatar leveraged Microsoft’s cloud services to achieve agility, resilience, security, and business continuity. Through joint efforts, more than 140,000 employees in Qatar were able to work remotely, and more than 400,000 students and teachers were equipped to learn online using Microsoft Teams. Within a matter of days, Microsoft technology was also enabling Qatar’s doctors, emergency responders, and caregivers to work remotely. These things were only possible because Qatar had already embarked on its digital transformation journey.

How important is the SME ecosystem and how is Microsoft supporting it? Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have a profound impact on economic growth, representing up to 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. Some 600 million jobs will be needed by 2030 to absorb the growing global workforce, making SME development a priority for governments.

Microsoft is committed to empowering startups in Qatar by offering them the technology and resources to scale their businesses in the cloud. We work with Qatari entities such as Fintech Hub, QDB, TASMU, Ooredoo, Tawteen, and Nautica 360 to empower a diverse range of startups spanning sectors from fintech to sports.

How is Microsoft helping Qatar to prepare the current generation for a digital future? Our mission is to empower every individual and organization across the world to achieve more, and we are dedicated to supporting Qatar as it works towards its visionary agenda. Through new, locally delivered services, we aim to help the current workforce to harness the power of the cloud and we are partnering with the Qatari government to deliver core digital skills to more than 50,000 people by 2025.

www.microsoft.com/mea/ qatar-datacenters/