Raymond Jones Harbert (born December 1958) is an American business executive, investor and philanthropist from Alabama. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of

Harbert Management Corporation Harbert Management Corporation, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is a U.S. investment management company founded in 1993 by Raymond J. Harbert. Overview The company has investment funds in nine alternative asset classes in three areas of concentra ...

(HMC), a global private investment firm with US$8.4 billion of assets under management. He donated US$25 million to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

as part of a US$40 million donation pledge.

Early life

Raymond Jones Harbert was born in December 1958 and grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. His father,

John M. Harbert John Murdoch Harbert III (July 19, 1921 – March 31, 1995) was an American businessman. He is best known for building his international construction company, Harbert Corporation, into one of the world's largest, along with creating a personal w ...

, founded Harbert Corporation, a large multinational construction company, in 1949.Connor Sheets
Who are the richest Alabamians now that billionaire Marguerite Harbert has passed?
''The Birmingham News'', March 23, 2015 His mother,

Marguerite Harbert Marguerite Jones Harbert (1923 – March 17, 2015) was an American philanthropist and billionaire from Alabama. Early life Margarite Jones was born in 1923 in Birmingham, Alabama. Her father was Raymond McAdoo Jones and her mother, Marguerite ...

, was a billionaire philanthropist. He has a brother, John M. Harbert IV, and a sister, Marguerite H. Gray.Tiffany Ray
Harbert heiress sues brother over family cash
''Birmingham Business Journal'', December 24, 2006 Harbert graduated from

, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management in 1982.Raymond Jones Harbert
''Bloomberg Business''Harbert-college-of-business-at-auburn-university/ The beginning of the Raymond Jones Harbert College of Business at Auburn University
''Harbert Magazine Online: The Alumni Magazine of Auburn University's Raymond Jones Harbert College of Business'', June 21, 2013Tara Grant Jones
Jones Harbert The Man Behind the Name :: Raymond Jones Harbert
''Auburn Family: Auburn University's Social Network'', June 21, 2013

Career

Harbert was appointed as vice president of business development at ''Harbert International'', a subsidiary of his father's company, Harbert Corporation, in 1982. Later, he was appointed as the president of its real estate subsidiary, Harbert Properties Corporation. From 1988 to 1990, he served as the vice president of Harbert Corporation, with responsibility for all investment activities. In 1990, he was elected as its chief executive officer, taking over all executive responsibilities from his father. In 1993, Harbert borrowed US$3 million from his inheritance and founded

, a global investment management firm headquartered in Birmingham.John Helyar
Harbert Outperforming Falcone With 11% Return Suffers Asset Drop
''Bloomberg Business'', May 16, 2012Evan Belanger

''The Birmingham News'', June 21, 2013 Over the next 20 years, HMC expanded and grew, opening offices around the US and Europe. The firm manages money for a wide variety of clients ranging from public endowments and foundations to high net worth individuals and family offices.Harbert Management Corporation website
/ref> HMC invests in real estate, energy, private equity and debt, venture capital, and the public markets. In 2000, Harbert launched what became

Harbinger Capital Partners Harbinger Capital Partners is a private hedge fund based in New York City, New York, founded by Philip Falcone. Harbinger is a highly diversified multi-strategy hedge fund. Notable investments have included sub-prime mortgages in the United Sta ...

, a hedge fund managed by

Philip Falcone Philip A. Falcone is an American businessman and the founder of Harbinger Capital and LightSquared.ForbesProfile of Philip Falconeas of March 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013 Early life and education Philip Falcone grew up in Chisholm, Minneso ...

.Laurie Bennett
Raymond Harbert, phantom investor in the Times saga
, ''

Muckety Muckety is a web site launched in 2007 by former newspaper journalists. The site uses interactive maps powered by Adobe Flash to show relationships between people, businesses and organizations. Muckety also publishes news stories about influenti ...

'', June 2, 2009 After a strong 10-year run under the HMC umbrella, Falcone became the majority owner of Harbinger, though Harbert remained a personal investor. In 2006, Harbert was sued by his sister Marguerite under the suspicion that he had failed to fulfil his fiduciary duties to the other shareholders of the Harbert Corporation, including his other brother and herself. Gray's claims differ from Harbert's claims.

Philanthropy

Harbert serves on the board of trustees of his alma mater, Auburn University. In 2013, he pledged a US$40 million donation to its College of Business. Harbert donated US$25 million and agreed to donate US$15 million more should the university fundraise US$15 million on top of its donations. As a result, the board of trustees renamed it the

Raymond J. Harbert College of Business The Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, commonly shortened to Harbert College is the business school of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. Founded in 1967, it grants both undergraduate and graduate degrees, and is one of the university's n ...

. The donation helped fund professorial chairs, a doctoral program in finance, and the establishment of the Harbert Investments Center, a research center within the business school in conjunction with the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. It was the largest charitable contribution ever made to Auburn University. Harbert served on the board of directors of the Alabama Trust Fund. He also served on the Liberal Arts Advisory Council of Wake Forest University. He now serves on the board of trustees of Children's of Alabama, a children's hospital in Birmingham.Children's of Alabama: board of trustees
/ref> He also serves on the executive committee of the Birmingham Business Alliance.Birmingham Business Alliance: BBA Volunteer Leadership
/ref>

Personal life

Harbert is married to Kathryn Dunn Harbert and they have three children. They reside in Mountain Brook, Alabama, a neighborhood of Birmingham. Harbert also owns a 10,000-acre farm in South Alabama, where he hunts quail and turkey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harbert, Raymond J. 1958 births Living people People from Mountain Brook, Alabama Auburn University alumni American company founders Businesspeople from Alabama American chief executives American investors The New York Times Philanthropists from Alabama American hunters Harbert family