David Tepper Leaves a Void That’s Tougher to Fill
The next great money managers are waiting to be discovered. Do investors have the will to find them?
Can an otherworldly track record be surpassed?
Photographer: Scott Cunningham/Getty Images
The hedge fund industry boasts some of the best money managers on the planet, but good luck investing with them. There are precious few, and it’s never clear who they are in the beginning. By the time their skills are apparent, they’ve already amassed a fortune and no longer need investors’ money.
Investors were reminded of that quandary last week with the news that David Tepper, founder of hedge fund Appaloosa Management, plans to return money to outside investors and focus on managing his own fortune, which includes the Carolina Panthers football team he bought last year. Tepper founded Appaloosa with just $57 million in 1993 but soon closed the fund to new investors as his fame grew and money poured in. Those who weren’t invested with Tepper from the start, or close to it, never had the opportunity.