Markets Magazine

Glenview’s Robbins Tops Hedge-Fund Ranking With Bet on Obamacare

Larry Robbins, CEO of Glenview, sitting third from right, with some of his team members. He produced an 84 percent return for his Capital Opportunity fund, No. 1 in the Bloomberg Markets ranking by a large margin.
Miller Mobley/Bloomberg Markets

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By Katherine Burton, Anthony Effinger and Kelly Bit

January 8, 2014 at 12:01 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

When Larry Robbins was a boy in the Chicago suburbs, his father, Sheldon, worked two jobs and wasn’t around much. If the young Robbins wanted to see him on weekends, he had to travel to Arlington Park, a nearby horse-racing track that his dad ran. During those Saturday visits, his father taught him how to handicap horses. One lesson: Know the horse and the race. Was the track dry or muddy? Did the horse win because he was fast or because the competition was lousy?

The lesson stuck with him. His corporate handicapping helped his $1.8 billion Glenview Capital Opportunity Fund to an