Daniel Seth Loeb (born December 18, 1961) is an American investor,
hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chief executive of
Third Point
Third Point Management is a New York-based hedge fund founded by Daniel S. Loeb in 1995. The firm operates as an employee-owned and SEC-registered investment advisor with approximately $16 billion in assets under management . As of December ...
, a New York-based hedge fund focused on
event-driven
Event driven may refer to:
The term event-driven refers to a methodology that focuses on events and event dependencies.
Examples include
* Event-driven finite-state machine, finite-state machine where the transition from one state to another i ...
, value-oriented investing with $14.8 billion in
assets under management, as of June 2019.
''
New York magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...
'' noted that Loeb's "preferred strategy" is to buy into troubled companies, replace inefficient management, and return the companies to profitability, which "is the key to his success."
Loeb was described as "one of the most successful activists" in 2014.
Early life and education
Loeb is the son
of Ronald and Clare (née Spark) Loeb.
[''Weddings\Celebrations''; Margaret Munzer, Daniel Loeb"]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', July 4, 2004; retrieved August 5, 2013. He was raised in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
where he attended
Palisades Charter High School
Palisades Charter High School (usually colloquially known as Pali or Pali High and abbreviated as PCHS) is an independent charter secondary school in Los Angeles, United States. The high school serves the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, ...
.
In high school, he took AP classes, started a skateboard company, and was nicknamed "Milo Minderbinder
First Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder is a fictional character in Joseph Heller's 1961 novel, ''Catch-22''. As the mess officer of Yossarian's squadron, Minderbinder is an entrepreneur during World War II, "perhaps the best known of all fictional bus ...
" by one of his teachers (after a character in the novel ''Catch-22
''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-chr ...
'' who had a fascination with the stock market
A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...
). His father was a partner at the Los Angeles law firm of Irell & Manella LLP[Gopinath, Deepa]
Hedgefund Rabble Rouser
''Bloomberg Markets
''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial mar ...
'', October 2005; retrieved August 5, 2013. and general counsel
A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department.
In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...
for Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is an American publicly traded consumer retail company that sells kitchenware and home furnishings. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. The company has 625 brick and mortar stores and distribute ...
His father also served as an outside director of Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
, Inc. for over 30 years and during one period became interim President of Mattel. His mother is a historian and independent scholar.
Loeb's great-aunt, Ruth Handler
Ruth Marianna Handler ( Mosko; November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002) was an American businesswoman and inventor. Best known for inventing the Barbie doll in 1959, she served as the first president of toy manufacturer Mattel, Inc., which she co- ...
, created the Barbie doll
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.
...
and co-founded Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
Inc.[ In 2009, Loeb told an audience " associated success in business with ]Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox.
Many automobile manufacturers have ...
and Barbie dolls. I think it was a very powerful enforcer early on to like business."
Loeb attended the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
for two years and subsequently graduated from Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
with an economics degree in 1983.[Bailey, Brando]
"Daniel Loeb: Southern California native a hedge fund manager who takes on corporate executives"
, ''Silicon Valley'', May 5, 2012; retrieved May 14, 2012. At Columbia, he was a classmate of Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, whose presidential campaign
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
he later offered significant financial support. By his senior year at Columbia, he had made $120,000 in the stock market, but lost it all on an investment in a firm called Puritan-Bennett Inc. The loss taught him a lesson, he later said, in "overconcentrating positions".
Investing career
From 1984-87, Loeb worked at private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
firm Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus LLC is a global private equity firm, headquartered in New York, with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, China, Southeast Asia and India. Warburg has been a private equity investor since 1966. The firm currently has over ...
. He then worked as director of corporate development at Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
, a record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
, where he focused on securing debt financing. After Island Records, Loeb worked as a risk arbitrage Risk arbitrage, also known as merger arbitrage, is an investment strategy that speculates on the successful completion of mergers and acquisitions. An investor that employs this strategy is known as an arbitrageur. Risk arbitrage is a type of even ...
analyst at Lafer Equity Investors and then, from 1991–94, as senior vice-president in the distressed debt Distressed securities are securities over companies or government entities that are experiencing financial or operational distress, default, or are under bankruptcy. As far as debt securities, this is called distressed debt. Purchasing or holding s ...
department at Jefferies LLC
Jefferies Group LLC is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company that is headquartered in New York City. The firm provides clients with capital markets and Derivative (finance), financial advisory servic ...
, where he focused on bankruptcy analysis, trading bank loans and selling distressed securities. He moved on to become a Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
vice president from 1994–95, in charge of high-yield bond
In finance, a high-yield bond (non-investment-grade bond, speculative-grade bond, or junk bond) is a bond that is rated below investment grade by credit rating agencies. These bonds have a higher risk of default or other adverse credit events ...
sales.
Third Point Management
Loeb started Third Point Management in 1995 "with $3.3 million from family and friends". Under Loeb's guidance, Third Point Management's annualized returns since inception (Dec. 1996 – Dec. 2015) total approximately +16.2%.
In 2012, the firm returned +21.2%, outperforming the S&P 500's return of +16.0% and making it one of best performing hedge funds that year.
In 2013, the firm returned +25.2%, while the S&P 500 returned +32.4%. Loeb appeared in ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
2013 list of the world's 40 richest hedge-fund managers and traders. In 2014, the firm returned +5.7%, while the S&P 500 returned +13.7%. In 2015, the firm returned -1.4%, while the S&P 500 returned +1.4%. In 2017, it was reported the firm returned 18.1% net of fees in the first 11 months of the year.
Yahoo!
In 2012, Loeb, who through Third Point LLC, held 5.8% of Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...
stock, sought seats on the Yahoo! board for himself, former NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
CEO Jeff Zucker
Jeffrey Adam Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American former media executive. Between January 2013 and February 2022, Zucker was the president of CNN Worldwide. Zucker oversaw CNN, CNN International, HLN, and CNN Digital. He was previously C ...
, former Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
executive Harry Wilson and former MTV Networks
Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
executive Michael J. Wolf.
On May 3, 2012, Loeb revealed that the new CEO of Yahoo!, Scott Thompson, did not have a computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
degree, as had been commonly assumed for many years. On May 13, 2012, Yahoo! announced that Thompson would be stepping down, and nominated Loeb, Wilson and Wolf to the Yahoo! board.
Marissa Mayer was then appointed as CEO to replace Thompson. In July 2013, Loeb, Wilson, and Wolf resigned from Yahoo!'s board, leaving Yahoo! with a seven-member board. Yahoo! agreed to buy back 40 million shares at $1.6 billion from Third Point.
Sony
In May 2013, Loeb proposed splitting Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
's entertainment and electronics businesses, arguing that such a split would increase profits.
On June 18, 2013, Third Point LLC announced it had increased its stake in Sony to 70 million shares, or about 7 percent, valued at $1.4 billion.["Third Point ups Sony stake, calls for independent entertainment board"](_blank)
4-Traders.com, June 18, 2013; retrieved August 5, 2013. According to Bloomberg.com
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...
, Sony's board of directors considered Loeb's proposal and hired Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
and Citigroup, Inc.
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
to evaluate it.
Actor George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...
, whose Smokehouse Pictures
Smokehouse Pictures is an American film and television production company. The company was founded in 2006 by George Clooney and Grant Heslov after the shutdown of Section Eight Productions. Its name is taken from the Smoke House restaurant, loc ...
production company has a contract with Sony's entertainment division, publicly opposed the proposal.
As of May 2014, Sony remained 12 percent lower than when Loeb first suggested for them to split. Sony had its sixth annual loss in seven years with shares dropping 8.8 percent as of May 2014. In February 2014, Sony said it would sell its PC business to buy out Japan industrial Partners Inc. and split its TV manufacturing unit into an independently operated entity. Ayano Iguchi, a company spokeswoman, said Sony was "focused on creating shareholder value by executing on our plan to revitalize and grow the electronics business, while further strengthening the entertainment and financial service businesses." Chris Konstantinos, director of international portfolio managements at RiverFront, stated that a breakup was "long overdue".
In October 2014, Loeb sold his shares in Sony and later wrote, "They have a long way to go and we continue to believe that more urgency will be necessary to definitively turn around the company's fortunes".
Sotheby's
In October 2013, Loeb issued a letter scrutinizing the governance of Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
.[SEC records regarding Loeb, Sotheby's](_blank)
sec.gov; accessed May 7, 2014. It announced that Third Point
Third Point Management is a New York-based hedge fund founded by Daniel S. Loeb in 1995. The firm operates as an employee-owned and SEC-registered investment advisor with approximately $16 billion in assets under management . As of December ...
had acquired "9.3% of the outstanding shares" and addressed Third Point's concerns regarding the governance of Sotheby's. These concerns are summarized as, "we are troubled by the Company's chronically weak operating margins and deteriorating competitive position relative to Christie's, as evidenced by each of the Contemporary and Modern art evening sales over the last several years." The letter expressed strong skepticism of Sotheby's international strategy—"Sotheby's is struggling internationally, lagging in newer markets like China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and the Middle East"—and called for the removal of William Ruprecht from all his positions.
After Sotheby's instituted a " poison pill" to stop Third Point from growing its position past 10%, Third Poin
brought a lawsuit
in the state of Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
; however, on May 3, 2014, Vice Chancellor Donald Parsons of the Delaware Court of Chancer
ruled
that the auction house was justified in its use of the corporate action. On May 5, Loeb and Sotheby's reached an agreement, stipulating that Loeb, Olivier Reza and Harry J. Wilson join the board in exchange for Third Point having an ownership cap at 15%. William Ruprecht remained CEO and the proxy contest ceased.
After 35 years at Sotheby's, Ruprecht retired as CEO. On March 16, 2015, Sotheby's named Tad Smith as its new president and chief executive.
Fanuc
In late 2014, Loeb's Third Point took a stake in Fanuc
FANUC ( or ; often styled Fanuc) is a Japanese group of companies that provide automation products and services such as robotics and computer numerical control wireless systems. These companies are principally of Japan, Fanuc America Corporat ...
, a robotics and computer numerical controls firm. Prior, Fanuc seldom made direct contact with its investors but in March 2014, the company decided "it would start talking to shareholders" and "return some of its cash to them." Loeb met with Fanuc's President, Yoshiharu Inaba, with encouragement from Japan's government officials, and was deemed a top prospect for "shaking up Japanese firms."
Ligand Pharmaceuticals
In January 2007, when John Higgins became CEO of Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company located in San Diego, California. Founded in 1987 as Progenix Inc., the company went public in 1992. Initially focused on developing its own drugs, a period of turbulence in the early 2000s cul ...
, Loeb bought into the biotech firm to cut its losses and grow revenue. Loeb invested $50 million, increased the company's profit to $250 million, and bought back $68 million in stock.
Seven & I
In April 2016, Loeb won a battle in his drive to shake up corporate Japan which had ''"been sheltered from agitating investors"''. Seven & I Holdings Co.'s board was planning to replace Ryuichi Isaka as head of the company however, Loeb recommended Isaka as a successor to Toshifumi Suzuki is a former CEO and president of 7-Eleven. Taking over after the resignation of James W. Keyes, Suzuki had been the temporary successor to Keyes while the search for a replacement CEO and president continued. Suzuki has been a businessman since the ...
, chairman and chief executive. On April 7, Suzuki resigned after losing a boardroom dispute with Loeb. Loeb wrote in a March 27, 2016 letter to Seven & I directors, "Mr. Isaka should be rewarded—not demoted—for his performance and commitment to delivering results for shareholders ... This isn't a dynasty. This is a corporation." Loeb has pushed for the company to focus on its convenience store line while jettisoning its plans to expand its department and supermarket store franchises.
Nestlé
In June 2017, Third Point disclosed its ownership of approximately 40 million shares of Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
, making it the company's sixth-largest shareholder according to Standard & Poor's Global Market Intelligence.
Portfolio 2020
His largest investments are in The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
, Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
and Danaher Corporation
Danaher Corporation is an American globally diversified conglomerate with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The company designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. The company's ...
. He owns 5.5 million shares of Disney, which are worth $718 million. Amazon is in second place with a value of $661 million. About 20% of his portfolio is technology services. It was also announced in October that Loeb had become a shareholder in Snowflake, a cloud data platform.
Investment philosophy
''New York magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...
'' noted that Loeb's "preferred strategy" is to buy into troubled companies, replace inefficient management, and return the companies to profitability, which "is the key to his success."[
]
Letters
On Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
, Loeb has a reputation for "financial savvy" and for "his withering criticism of corporate executives who are unfortunate enough to stumble in his sights". One of Loeb's signature tactics involves letter-writing:
Loeb is well known in Hedgeworld for his attacks on what he views as greedy execs who also happen to be depressing shareholder value of shares he owns. "The moral-indignation business", Loeb sometimes calls it. "Hedge-fund guys love to read Loeb's attacks; 'he articulates what people feel', says one."
Often these letters cite the results of investigations he has ordered, detailing management decisions and actions he considers detrimental to shareholder value. The letters usually accompany his government filings.[ Loeb once spent more than $4 million to increase his stake in a company to more than 5%, the statutory threshold requiring investor filings with the SEC, in order to file one of his letters criticizing the firm's management.][ According to ''New York'' magazine, "Loeb is proud of his letters, which are thorough, well argued, and filled with clever turns of phrase. (He had a batch prepared for his high-school English teacher.)"][ A 2005 '']New Yorker
New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to:
* A resident of the State of New York
** Demographics of New York (state)
* A resident of New York City
** List of people from New York City
* ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925
* ''The New ...
'' "The Talk of the Town" item described him as "a kind of investor's H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...
."
In a 2005 letter responding to a job inquiry by a U.K. fund manager, Loeb bristled at the applicant's reference to his (the applicant's) "place in society", telling the applicant that he would "have plenty of time to discuss your 'place in society' with the other fellows at the club." At Third Point, Loeb explained, "'one's place in society' does not matter at all. We are a bunch of scrappy guys from diverse backgrounds (Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
etc) who enjoy outwitting pompous asses like yourself in financial markets globally." Similarly, in a September 2005 letter to Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company located in San Diego, California. Founded in 1987 as Progenix Inc., the company went public in 1992. Initially focused on developing its own drugs, a period of turbulence in the early 2000s cul ...
CEO David Robinson, Loeb expressed wonder that Ligand's board of directors had not shown Robinson "the door long ago—accompanied by a well worn boot planted in the backside."[
Loeb sent a letter to John Collins, chairman and CEO of InterCept, in 2004, accusing InterCept of following "a ']good ol' boy
An old boy network (also known as old boys' network, ol' boys' club, old boys' club, old boys' society, good ol' boys club, or good ol' boys system) is an informal system in which wealthy men with similar social or educational background help ...
' set of ethics", pointing out that InterCept employed Collins' daughter and son-in-law, the latter of whom Loeb had recently reached by phone on a golf course during working hours. Loeb further noted his discovery that InterCept leased a jet from a partnership controlled by Collins and another board member.[
He wrote to Irik Sevin, CEO of Star Gas Partners, in February 2005, calling him "one of the most dangerous and incompetent executives in America" and accusing him of "ineptitude" and of using the firm as his "personal 'honey pot'". He wrote: "I was amused to learn, in the course of our investigation, that at Cornell University there is an 'Irik Sevin Scholarship'. One can only pity the poor student who suffers the indignity of attaching your name to his academic record." Loeb demanded the resignation from the firm's board of Sevin's "elderly 78-year old mom" and insisted that Sevin also "step down ... so that you can do what you do best: retreat to your waterfront mansion in ]the Hamptons
The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of ...
where you can play tennis and hobnob with your fellow socialites."[
A 2005 ''The New York Times'' article reported that many hedge-fund managers were now writing letters to the SEC demanding executives take specific actions and cited Loeb's letter to Sevin as exemplary of the genre, noting that three weeks after the letter was sent, "Sevin was gone, and a jubilant Mr. Loeb sent out an e-mail message to friends and associates declaring a 'huge victory for Third Point.'"]
Personal life
Loeb married Margaret Davidson Munzer on July 4, 2004, at his beach house in East Hampton, New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the 2020 United States census, it had a total ...
.[ The couple has three children.
Loeb is a founding "Master Player" of ]Portfolios with Purpose
Portfolios with Purpose ("PwP") is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2011. It is an annual virtual stock selection competition in which players of novice and professional experience pay a nominal entry-fee to choose a fiv ...
, an annual virtual stock trading contest that raises money for charitable causes of the winning contestants' choice.
In 2014, Loeb was reported as one of a number of "prominent investors hohave taken to Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...
".
Loeb was co-chair of the Governors for Investors Industry (2013). He is a Trustee of Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is a hospital network in New York City. It was formed in September 2013 by merging the operations of Continuum Health Partners and the Mount Sinai Medical Center.
The Health System is structured around eight hospit ...
, the Manhattan Institute
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in Manhattan in 1978 by Ant ...
, the U.S. Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...
and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
and of the National Council of the American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. ...
.
Loeb sat on the Board of Directors of Sotheby's and was the chair of the Board of the Success Academy charter network.
Political and economic views
Loeb has donated to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. It is the only organization solely dedicated to electing Democrats to the United States Senate. ...
, Friends for Harry Reid, Obama for America, Forward Together PAC, Prosperity PAC, Straight Talk America, and the Volunteer PAC. In 2013, Loeb was a signatory to an amicus curiae
An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in Hollingsworth v. Perry, in support of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
.
In 2015, Loeb, Paul Singer and Tim Gill
Tim Gill (born October 18, 1953) is an American computer software programmer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and LGBTQ rights activist. He was among the first openly gay people to be on the Forbes 400 list of America's richest people.
He is the fo ...
helped fund Freedom For All Americans to promote LGBT issues in states and local communities in the United States.
Loeb has donated to both Democrats and Republicans. In the 2018 midterm election cycle, he gave over $1 million.
Wealth and philanthropy
According to ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', his net worth
Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...
is $3.5 billion as of April 2021.
Third Point Foundation
The Loeb Family - Third Point Foundation earned $6.39 million in profits in 2011 and had $45 million in assets at the end 2016.
Loeb is heavily involved in education reform efforts, specifically supporting charter schools. As Chairman of the board of Success Academy Charter Schools
Success Academy Charter Schools, originally Harlem Success Academy, is a charter school operator in New York City. Eva Moskowitz, a former city council member for the Upper East Side, is its founder and CEO. It has 47 schools in the New York ar ...
in Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, he pledged, in June 2013, to donate $3 million to Success Academy Charter Schools.
He endowed the Daniel S. Loeb Scholarship for undergraduate study at Columbia University. Since 2004, he has been a trustee of Prep for Prep, an organization in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
that prepares underprivileged children to attend competitive private schools. He is active in the Jewish Enrichment Center, which provides young people with an education in Judaism. Additionally, he is a co-founder of Students First New York, the state branch of the national education advocacy organization.
On February 20, 2014, Loeb attended a discussion between the American Enterprise Institute and the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...
. The two worldviews debated the morality of capitalism and free enterprise. In Loeb's presentation, he said he practices Ashtanga yoga and applies yoga principles to his business and his decision-making. He noted that these principles aided in his decision to donate to a charter school in The Bronx, New York
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...
, which is now ranked third in New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
.
In October 2011, Loeb challenged three former Navy SEALs to run the "MightyMan" Half Iron Triathlon with him and his team in Montauk, New York
Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318.
The ...
. He made a sizable contribution for each Navy SEAL
The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...
Foundation director who completed the triathlon to raise funds for the foundation.
In 2011, 2012, and 2013, Loeb and his wife made significant donations to the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), which funds over 400 Alzheimer's drug discovery programs in academic centers and biotechnology companies in 18 countries.
Loeb and his wife donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1949, is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer in the world. The LLS's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's l ...
, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on ovarian cancer research, advocacy and patient support. The organization was formed in January 2016 when the former not-for-profit organization Ovarian Cancer Res ...
, Chai Lifeline
Chai Lifeline is a ''chesed'' organization founded in 1987 by Rabbi Simcha Scholar to help families with "children battling a deadly disease."
Although they have professional staff, much of their work depends on volunteers,
whose ranks include t ...
, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease (PD) established in 2000 by Michael J. Fox. It concentrates on funding research and ensuring the development of improved therapies for ...
.
Art collection
He is a prominent art collector and the walls at his Park Avenue office are covered with paintings", according to a ''The New York Times'' August 26, 2013 article. At a Sotheby's auction in 2009, Manhattan dealer Larry Gagosian
Lawrence Gilbert "Larry" Gagosian (born April 19, 1945) is an American art dealer who owns the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries. Working in concert with collectors including Douglas S. Cramer, Eli Broad, and Keith Barish, he developed a r ...
purchased Jeff Koons
Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish su ...
' ''Baroque Egg With Bow (Turquoise/Magenta)'' for $5.4 million from Loeb, who had bought it from the Gagosian Gallery
Gagosian is a contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Larry Gagosian. The gallery exhibits some of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. There are 16 gallery spaces: five in New York City; three in London; two in Par ...
in 2004 for about $3 million.
Loeb has traced his love of art to his student years at Columbia, when he saw Poussin's ''The Rape of the Sabine Women
The Rape of the Sabine Women ( ), also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other citi ...
'' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
and took an art humanities class as part of the core curriculum. The "prep school kids" treated him like a "jerk", thinking they "all knew so much more", but in the end "I got one of two A's, and all the prep school snotty kids didn't."
''Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' placed Loeb at the top of its list of "Wall Street's 25 Most Serious Art Collectors", noting he owns works by Mike Kelley, Richard Prince
Richard Prince (born 1949) is an American painter and photographer. In the mid-1970s, Prince made drawings and painterly collages that he has since disowned. His image, ''Untitled (Cowboy)'', a rephotographing of a photograph by Sam Abell and ...
, Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement.
Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
and Cindy Sherman
Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters.
Her breakthrough work is often co ...
, and that he "has his own curator."
Criminal justice reform
Loeb is an advocate for criminal justice reform and helps fund the Marshall Project
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit, online journalism organization focusing on issues related to criminal justice in the United States. It was founded by former hedge fund manager Neil Barsky with former ''New York Times'' executive editor Bil ...
, a nonprofit online journalism group, and the Brennan Center's Innocence Project. He is concerned with those unfairly imprisoned and successfully pushed for the release of Bernard Noble in April 2018, who served more than 7 years in prison for possessing two marijuana joints.
References
External links
*
Picture of Loeb from New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loeb, Daniel S.
1961 births
Living people
American billionaires
American financial analysts
American financiers
American hedge fund managers
American investors
American money managers
American stock traders
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
California Democrats
New York (state) Democrats
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Directors of Yahoo!
Jewish American philanthropists
Stock and commodity market managers
University of California, Berkeley alumni
People from Santa Monica, California
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
American company founders
Formula E people
21st-century American Jews