Hedge Fund Bros Made A Killing In 2020 Taking Home Over $20 Billion
We are living in crazy, disconnected times. Nearly 80 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since the pandemic has started. Poverty and food insecurity are at a modern-day high. People can’t afford to pay their rents and mortgages. While this is happening, Wall Street is rejoicing. It’s been hitting new record highs on an almost daily basis.
One group that literally made fortunes are the hedge fund honchos. Collectively, the top list of Bloomberg’s highest earners reaped a windfall of over $20 billion in 2020.
The biggest winner, Chase Coleman, personally gained $3 billion. Bill Ackman, who shorted credit markets at the beginning of last year to protect his portfolio and then bet on the recovery, gained $1.3 billion.
According to the New York Post, “Michael Platt, who last year got caught on a viral video bragging to a New York City cabby about his wealth, made even more than Coleman at $5 billion. But he wasn’t included on the list of the 15 richest hedge fund managers because his Bluecrest Capital Management, which reportedly earned 95% last year, no longer manages money for outside investors.”
After Chase Coleman, former National Security Agency codebreaker and MIT math professor Jim Simons took home $2.6 billion.
Here’s the rest the rest of the crew:
Millennium’s Izzy Englander—$2.2 billion
Lone Pine’s Steven Mandel—$1.8 billion
Citadel’s Ken Griffin—$1.8 billion
Coutue’s Phillipe Laffont—$1.7 billion
Point72 founder-turned-New York Mets owner Steve Cohen—$1.7 billion
A couple of hedge fund bros snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Melvin Capital Management’s (yes, the short sellers in the Reddit day traders vs. hedge funds scandal) Gabe Plotkin was looking at an $850 million payday in 2020 only to be caught on the wrong side of the Reddit army who pumped up the prices of stocks his hedge fund shorted. Now, he’s down about $460 million.
I apologize for ruining your day. Sorry! Now, the gains in your Charles Schwab don’t look so hot anymore. Don’t worry; I’m sure that the billionaires are secretly unhappy living in their multiple megamansions scattered around the world.