George Soros
Probably the most well known name on this list, George Soros’ Quantum Fund is the industry’s biggest revenue generator, have made over $32 billion since its inception in 1973. George is infamous for “breaking the bank of England.” His views and insights are revered in the industry.
David Tepper
David is the founder of the hedge fund Appaloosa Management. Mr. Tepper’s specialty is distressed debt. He made large profits in the past investing in what he called the “diciest of companies,” including WorldCom and Conseco. More recently, his fund made large profits investing in distressed financial companies, propelling his fund to the best performing of 2009.
John Paulson
John is the founder and president of Paulson & Co. Paulson made his billions by betting against subprime mortgages in 2007. His fund set records in 2010, with huge profits, and he repeated this performance in 2011, being the highest grossing hedge fund of the year for two years running.
James Harris Simons
James started and runs Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund with over $15 billion under management. Simons is a mathematician, and is renowned for being a pioneer in statistical analysis.
Steven A. Cohen
Steven is the founder and manager of the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors with $14 billion under management. His fund focuses primarily on equity strategies. Mr. Cohen is infamous for building his empire on rapid and voluminous trading and big profits.
Ray Dalio
Ray started and runs the largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates, which has over $120 billion under management. Commonly referred to as the Steve Jobs of investing because of his eccentric personality, his equally eccentric view of macroeconomics is what has made him his fortune.
Eddie Lampert
Eddie is the founder of ESL Investments. His fund was one of the top five grossing hedge funds in 2011. Lampert has been called the next Warren Buffet because of his investment style, which he calls “concentrated value.” While Buffet looks for value investments anywhere he can find them, Lampert focuses on value investments in the retail sector specifically, a sector that Buffet, ironically, is reluctant to invest in.
Alan Howard
Alan is the co-founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP. With about $26 billion under management, Howard’s fund averages yearly returns around 18%. He is known for his trail-blazing decision making.
David Einhorn
David is founder and president of Greenlight Capital, which bills itself as a “long-short value oriented hedge fund.” Einhorn’s fund has had returns in the double digits in all but one of the last ten years. Einhorn is known for being one step ahead of the market, famously calling the Lehman Brothers collapse.
Louis Bacon
Louis is the founder and manager of Moore Capital Management, started in 1990. Since then, Bacon has been a leading voice in the industry and has produced consistent profits. His influence and power can be seen most recently by how closely his recent report on Greek debt was read.
