Israel “Izzy” Englander, President and CEO of Millennium Management LLC.
Ronda Churchill | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The 25 highest-paid hedge fund managers reached a record $ 32 billion in 2020, an increase of more than 50% compared to 2019, according to the institutional investor’s list of wealthy.
A total of 15 hedge fund managers earned $ 1 billion or more, compared to just eight in 2019. The big gains during the pandemic, coupled with the public debate over hedge funds in the wake of the GameStop controversy, are likely to attract criticisms from lawmakers and the public about hedge fund payments and fairness in the financial markets.
The biggest winner was Israel “Izzy” Englander, from Millennium Management, winning US $ 3.8 billion. Its main fund rose 26% last year, which was the best return in 20 years. Like many of the best performing funds in the past year, Millennium depends more on stock selection than on quantitative strategies that use computer algorithms.
Second is Renaissance Technologies’ Jim Simons, who won $ 2.6 billion. Its investors, however, did not do so well. Renaissance Technologies’ top three funds for outside investors fell by 20% to 30%, according to the report. But its Medallion fund, which is mainly for employees, grew 76%. Simons retired as president on January 1.
Tiger Global’s Chase Coleman came in third, with a payment of $ 2.5 billion. The fund was one of the first investors in technology stocks and games abroad that did well during the pandemic, giving its fund a 48% return. His partner Scott Shleifer, head of Tiger’s private equity business, was tied for eighth place with $ 1.5 billion. Shleifer has just bought the most expensive home ever sold in Florida, paying more than $ 130 million for a newly built Palm Beach mansion.
Ken Griffin of Citadel, which is at the center of the GameStop debate, came in fourth with $ 1.8 billion and his fund grew 24%. Steve Cohen of Point72 Asset Management, owner of Mets, came in fifth, along with David Tepper, both with $ 1.7 billion.
Correction: an earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed ownership of the Mets.