Julian Hart Robertson, Jr. KNZM (born June 25, 1932) is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. Now retired, Robertson invests directly in other hedge funds, most run by former employees of Robertson’s defunct hedge fund company.
Robertson was born in Salisbury, North Carolina. He founded the investment firm Tiger Management Corp., one of the earliest hedge funds. Robertson is credited with turning $8 million in start-up capital in 1980 into over $22 billion in the late 1990s, though that was followed by a fast downward spiral of investor withdrawals that ended with the fund closing in 2000.
In 1993, his compensation and share of Tiger’s gain exceeded $300 million. His 2003 estimated net worth was over $400 million, and in May 2015 it was estimated by Forbes at $3.4 billion. Robertson said in 2008 that he shorted subprime securities and made money through credit default swaps. The following year, according to Forbes, Robertson’s return on his $200 million personal trading account was 150 percent.
Early life and education
Robertson is the son of Julian Hart Robertson Sr., a textile company executive, and the former Blanche Spencer. He graduated from Episcopal High School in 1951 and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1955. While at Chapel Hill, he was admitted to Zeta Psi fraternity. He then served as an officer in the U.S. Navy until 1957.
After leaving the Navy, Robertson moved to New York City and worked for a time as a stockbroker for Kidder, Peabody & Co. At Kidder, he eventually headed the firm’s asset management division (Webster Securities) before departing to move with his family to New Zealand for a year to write a novel. On his return, in 1980 Robertson launched Tiger Management with initial investments from friends and family.
Julian Robertson, Jr. Net Worth: Julian Robertson, Jr. is an American former hedge fund manager who has a net worth of $3.3 billion. Born Julian Hart Robertson Junior on 25 June 1932 in Salisbury, North Carolina, he made his fortune as founder of Tiger Management Corp., an investment company. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, he moved to New York, and started to work as a stockbroker for Kidder, Peabody & Co. Then in 1980, Robertson founded Tiger Management, one of the earliest hedge funds companies. During the years, Tiger Management grew into $22-billion-worth assets in 1998, but due to poor stock picking and failure to use the technology stock trend, it suffered of sudden losses, prompting investors to remove their money. In 2000, Robertson closed his fund firm, but stayed in touch with the hedge funds by supporting and investing the new upcoming hedge fund managers, in return for a share in their companies. Also, Robertson had employed and mentored at Tiger Management many managers, like Lee Ainslie, Ole Andreas Halvorsen and Chris Shumway, who are now running on their own several famous hedge fund companies, known as “Tiger Cubs”, and it is considered that Robertson has seeded over forty funds. In 2011, Robertson launched Tiger Accelerator Fund, $900-million-worth fund, which is open to outside investors. Today, Robertson serves on numerous organizations and university boards.
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