Julian Hart Robertson Jr. (June 25, 1932 – August 23, 2022) was an American billionaire

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as s ...

manager, and philanthropist. Robertson founded

Tiger Management Tiger Management Corp., also known as "The Tiger Fund", is an American hedge fund and family office founded by Julian Robertson. The fund began investing in 1980 and closed in March 2000/01. It continues to operate today in direct public equit ...

, one of the first hedge funds, in 1980. From its inception in 1980 to its 1998 asset peak, his fund returned 31.7% per year after fees, compared to a 12.7% annual return from the

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of ...

over the same period. However, a sharp decline thereafter led to the fund closing in March 2000. Tiger showed losses in only four of its 21 years. Robertson later mentored and provided seed funding to many notable hedge fund managers, known as the ''Tiger cubs'', including

Ole Andreas Halvorsen Ole Andreas Halvorsen (born 1961) is a Norwegian billionaire hedge fund manager. He is the CEO and a co-founder of the Connecticut-based hedge fund, Viking Global Investors.

, Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital,

Lee Ainslie Lee S. Ainslie III is the head of hedge fund Maverick Capital. He is a value investor that is particularly known for his investments in the technology sector. Early life and education Ainslie's father was headmaster of Episcopal High School, a p ...

Maverick Capital Maverick Capital is an American hedge fund firm. It was founded by Lee Ainslie in 1993, who was a " Tiger Cub" under Julian Robertson at Tiger Management, helped raise $38 million in capital by the family of Texas entrepreneur Sam Wyly Samue ...

, Bill Hwang, and

Chase Coleman III Charles Payson "Chase" Coleman III (born June 1,1975) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager, and the founder of Tiger Global Management. As of April 2023, his net worth is estimated at US$8.5 billion by ''Forbes'' making him the 251st ric ...

. During his lifetime, Robertson contributed more than US$2 billion to charity. He was also a signatory to

The Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, a ...

. At the time of his death, his net worth was estimated at $4.8 billion.

Early life and education

Robertson was the son of Julian Hart Robertson Sr., a textile company executive, and Blanche Spencer, a local activist. He claimed that his father was a descendant of

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

. Robertson first became interested in stocks at age 6. He graduated from Episcopal High School in 1951 and the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1955. While at Chapel Hill, he was admitted to

Zeta Psi Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a ...

fraternity and was a member of the

Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...

. He then served as an officer in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, traveling the world aboard a munitions ship until 1957. After leaving the Navy, Robertson moved to New York City and worked for a time as a stockbroker for Kidder, Peabody & Company. At Kidder, he eventually headed the firm's asset management division, Webster Securities. In 1978, he took a sabbatical and moved with his family to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

for a year to write a novel.

Investment career

Flickr - RalphJB - Kauri Cliffs Lodge (6)

On his return to the United States, in 1980, with $8 million of funding from family, friends, and his own wealth, he founded Tiger Management. The Tiger funds reached a peak of $22 billion in assets in 1998. Robertson's Tiger Fund accurately predicted the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...

, purposely underweighting the technology sector. Tiger's largest holding was

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon ...

; it controlled 25% of the company. Its troubles led to significant losses for the fund. Tiger also realized significant losses in the Japanese Yen. Such missteps ultimately led him to close his investment company in late March 2000, at the peak of the dot-com bubble, and return all outside capital to investors. Robertson said in 2008 that he shorted subprime securities and used

credit default swap A credit default swap (CDS) is a financial swap agreement that the seller of the CDS will compensate the buyer in the event of a debt default (by the debtor) or other credit event. That is, the seller of the CDS insures the buyer against som ...

s to make a 76.7% return on investment in 2007. From the closure of his fund in 2000 until January 2008, his return on his personal fortune was 403%. After closing his fund in 2000, Robertson supported and financed upcoming hedge fund managers in return for a stake in their fund management companies. Robertson later mentored and provided seed funding to many notable hedge fund managers, known as the ''Tiger cubs'', including

Ole Andreas Halvorsen Ole Andreas Halvorsen (born 1961) is a Norwegian billionaire hedge fund manager. He is the CEO and a co-founder of the Connecticut-based hedge fund, Viking Global Investors.

, Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital,

, Bill Hwang, and

. Robertson was an investor and developer in New Zealand and owned three lodges: Kauri Cliffs Lodge near

Matauri Bay Matauri Bay ( mi, Mātauri) is a bay in New Zealand, situated 30 km north of Kerikeri, in Whangaroa county, just north of the Bay of Islands. It has over a kilometre of white sand and crystal clear water, making it a popular summer destina ...

in Northland; Matakauri Lodge Queenstown; and The Farm at

Cape Kidnappers for "''the jawbone of Māui''" * for "''the fish hook of Māui''" , , type = Cape , photo = Cape Kidnappers.jpg , photo_width = , photo_alt = , photo_caption = Looking northeast towards Cape K ...

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

, as well as several wineries.

Personal life

Family

Julian married Josephine Tucker Robertson in 1972. She died in June 2010 from

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

. They had three children.

Philanthropy

In August 2010, Robertson signed

, an initiative by software mogul

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

and investor

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...

in which the wealthy pledge at least half their assets to charity. He was involved in donating to several educational causes. Robertson was the founder and benefactor of the

Robertson Scholars Program The Robertson Scholars Leadership Program is a joint merit scholarship and leadership development program at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The scholarship offers participants a unique "dual citizenship" at ...

which awards a merit scholarship that provides four-year full-tuition, room, board, and travel funding for 36 Duke University and

students each year. In April 2016, Robertson gave $25 million to Success Academy Charter Schools in New York. In 2019, he donated $2.7 million to the Liggins Institute at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. In 2009, it was announced that Robertson would donate art valued at $115 million to the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. The donation included works by

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

, Piet Mondrian,

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

, Georges Braque,

André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. Biography Early years Derain was born in 1880 in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France (region), Île-de-Franc ...

, Fernand Léger, Pierre Bonnard, and

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-La ...

and was the largest of its kind in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

. In May 2010, the New York Stem Cell Foundation, a private research institution, received a $27 million gift from Robertson to fund its research.

Politics

While Robertson was a Republican, he urged the party to support

clean energy Clean may refer to: * Cleaning, the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment * Cleanliness, the state of being clean and free from dirt Arts and media Music A ...

policies and contributed $500,000 to the ClearPath Foundation in 2016. Robertson supported the

Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign The 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney officially began on June 2, 2011, when former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney formally announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States, at an event ...

, and Romney attended Robertson's 80th birthday party in 2012. In January 2012, Robertson donated $1.25 million to

Restore Our Future Restore Our Future is a political action committee (PAC) created to support Mitt Romney in the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. A so-called Super PAC, Restore Our Future is permitted to raise and spend unlimited amounts of corporate, union, and ...

, a Super PAC supporting the

. In 2015, Robertson gave $1 million to a Super PAC supporting the

Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign The 2016 presidential campaign of Jeb Bush, the 43rd Governor of Florida, was formally launched on June 15, 2015, coming six months after announcing the formal exploration of a candidacy for the 2016 Republican nomination for the President of ...

. Although Robertson did not support

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

in the 2016 election, instead supporting libertarian

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

, Robertson was a supporter of the

presidency of Donald Trump Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

and the

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs A ...

. Robertson supported the

estate tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

Residences

Robertson owned residences in Manhattan on

Central Park South 59th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from York Avenue and Sutton Place on the East Side of Manhattan to the West Side Highway on the West Side. The three-block portion between Columbus Circle an ...

, Nassau County, Long Island, New Zealand, Sun Valley, and the Hamptons. In 2020, Robertson completed construction of three new homes, each approximately 4,000 square feet, for his family in New Zealand. Robertson kept track of where he spent his time and won a legal case after he proved that he did not spend enough time in New York to be liable for income taxes in the state.

Death

Robertson died at his home in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on August 23, 2022, aged 90.

Legacy and awards

In 2008, he was inducted into Institutional Investors Alpha's Hedge Fund Manager Hall of Fame. Robertson was appointed an Honorary Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to business and philanthropy, in the

2010 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Christ ...

, and in 2017, he was one of nine people awarded a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

Legal issues

On April 1, 1996, ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' carried a cover story written by reporter Gary Weiss, called "Fall of the Wizard", that was critical of Robertson's performance and behavior as founder and manager of Tiger Management. Robertson subsequently sued Weiss and ''BusinessWeek'' for $1 billion for defamation. The suit was

settled A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

with no money changing hands and ''BusinessWeek'' standing by the substance of its reporting.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Julian 1932 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century philanthropists American billionaires American financial analysts American hedge fund managers American investors American money managers American philanthropists American stockbrokers American stock traders Businesspeople from New York (state) Businesspeople from North Carolina Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia) alumni Giving Pledgers Honorary Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Military personnel from North Carolina New York (state) Republicans People from Salisbury, North Carolina Stock and commodity market managers Tiger Management University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni