Julian Hart Robertson Jr.KNZM (June 25, 1932 – August 23, 2022) was an American hedge fund manager, and philanthropist.
Robertson founded Tiger Management, one of the first hedge funds, in 1980. From its inception in 1980 to its 1998 asset peak, his fund returned 31.7% per year after fees, compared to a 12.7% annual return from the S&P 500 over the same period. However, a sharp decline thereafter led to the fund closing in March 2000. Tiger showed losses in only four of its 21 years.[1] Robertson later mentored and provided seed funding to many notable hedge fund managers, known as the Tiger cubs, including Ole Andreas Halvorsen, Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital, Lee Ainslie of Maverick Capital, Bill Hwang, and Chase Coleman III.[2]
During his lifetime, Robertson contributed more than US$2 billion to charity. He was also a signatory to The Giving Pledge.[1] At the time of his death, his net worth was estimated at $4.8 billion.[3]
Early life and education
Robertson was born on June 25, 1932, in Salisbury, North Carolina, as the son of Julian Hart Robertson Sr., a textile company executive, and Blanche Spencer, a local activist. He claimed that his father was a descendant of Pocahontas.[1] Robertson first became interested in stocks at age 6.[4]
After leaving the navy, Robertson moved to New York City and worked for a time as a stockbroker for Kidder, Peabody & Company. At Kidder, he eventually headed the firm's asset management division, Webster Securities. In 1978, he took a sabbatical and moved with his family to New Zealand for a year to write a novel.[1]
On his return to the United States, in 1980, with $8 million of funding from family, friends, and his own wealth, he founded Tiger Management.[1] The Tiger funds reached a peak of $22 billion in assets in 1998. Robertson's Tiger Fund accurately predicted the dot-com bubble, purposely underweighting the technology sector.[1] Tiger's largest holding was US Airways; it controlled 25% of the company. Its troubles led to significant losses for the fund. Tiger also realized significant losses in the Japanese Yen.[1][5] Such missteps ultimately led him to close his investment company in late March 2000, at the peak of the dot-com bubble, and return all outside capital to investors.[6][7][8] Revolting employees wanting to invest in the dot-com bubble are also cited as the reason behind closing.[9]
Robertson said in 2008 that he shorted subprime securities and used credit default swaps to make a 76.7% return on investment in 2007. From the closure of his fund in 2000 until January 2008, his return on his personal fortune was 403%.[10] After closing his fund in 2000, Robertson supported and financed upcoming hedge fund managers in return for a stake in their fund management companies.[11][12]
Robertson owned residences in Manhattan on Central Park South, Nassau County, Long Island, New Zealand, Sun Valley, and the Hamptons.[26] In 2020, Robertson completed construction of three new homes, each approximately 4,000 square feet, for his family in New Zealand.[27]
Robertson kept track of where he spent his time and won a legal case after he proved that he did not spend enough time in New York to be liable for income taxes in the state.[28]
Death
Robertson died at his home in Manhattan on August 23, 2022, aged 90.[29][30]
On April 1, 1996, BusinessWeek carried a cover story written by reporter Gary Weiss, called "Fall of the Wizard", that was critical of Robertson's performance and behavior as founder and manager of Tiger Management. Robertson subsequently sued Weiss and BusinessWeek for $1 billion for defamation. The suit was settled with no money changing hands and BusinessWeek standing by the substance of its reporting.[34][35][36][37][38][39]
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