Bruce R. (Robert) Berkowitz is an American

equity fund A stock fund, or equity fund, is a fund that invests in stocks, also called equity securities. Stock funds can be contrasted with bond funds and money funds. Fund assets are typically mainly in stock, with some amount of cash, which is generall ...

manager and registered investment adviser. Berkowitz founded Fairholme Capital Management in 1997 and was formerly a senior portfolio manager at

Lehman Brothers Holdings Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, an ...

and a managing director of

Smith Barney Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is an American multinational financial services corporation specializing in retail brokerage. It is the wealth & asset management division of Morgan Stanley. On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup anno ...

. Berkowitz was named 2009 Domestic-Stock Fund Manager of the Year and Domestic-Stock Fund Manager of the Decade by

Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar, Inc. is an American financial services firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and was founded by Joe Mansueto in 1984. It provides an array of investment research and investment management services. With operations in 29 countries, ...

Early life and education

Berkowitz, was raised in

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...

, the son of Hennie (née Schneider) and Barney Berkowitz. His father was a part-time taxi driver and owned a convenience store; his mother was a homemaker. Berkowitz attended Chelsea High School and Huntington Prep before graduating from

Beaver Country Day School Beaver Country Day School is an independent, college-preparatory day school for students in grades 6 through 12 founded in 1920. The school is located on a campus in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, near Boston. Beaver is a member ...

. In 1980, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics, ''cum laude'', from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

Career

After college, Berkowitz worked at the Strategic Planning Institute, a management consulting firm, in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. In 1983, he joined

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 1986 he accepted a job with

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

in London and then transferred to their New Jersey office in 1989 as a senior portfolio manager. In 1993, he became a managing director of

Investment Advisers. In 1997, Berkowitz started his own firm, Fairholme Capital Management. The name of the firm "Fairholme" was the name of the last street on which he had lived. In late 2010 it was announced that Berkowitz had joined the board of directors of the

St. Joe Company The St. Joe Company is a land development company headquartered in Panama City Beach, Florida. Founded in 1936 and until 1966 known as St. Joe Paper Company, the company still operates a forestry division but is primarily engaged in real estate d ...

Philanthropy

Berkowitz donated $6.75 million to the

Center for Jewish History The Center for Jewish History is a partnership of five Jewish history, scholarship, and art organizations in New York City: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute New York, Yeshiva University Museum, ...

which is dedicated to the preservation of Jewish history and genealogy. His donation along with that of

Bill Ackman William Albert Ackman (born May 11, 1966) is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager. He is the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company. His investment approach makes him an activis ...

, the CEO of hedge fund

Pershing Square Capital Management Pershing Square Capital Management is an American hedge fund management company founded and run by Bill Ackman, headquartered in New York City. Company history In 2004, with $54 million in funding from his personal funds and former business part ...

, and Joseph Steinberg, the president of

Leucadia National Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is an American financial services company based in New York City and listed on the Fortune 1000. Investments The company's major holdings are as follows: Financial Services * Jefferies Group (100%) - investment b ...

, were the three largest individual gifts that the center has ever received.

Personal life

Berkowitz lives in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

. He has been married to Tracey (née Pellows) Berkowitz since 1980, and he has two sons and one daughter.

References

External links

Fairholme FundsFairholme Capital Management
(archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkowitz, Bruce Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American financial businesspeople American money managers American financial analysts American hedge fund managers 21st-century American philanthropists People from Coral Gables, Florida People from Chelsea, Massachusetts Beaver Country Day School alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni 21st-century American Jews