NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - April 1, 2011) - The top 25 hedge fund managers on AR Magazine's tenth annual Rich List earned a combined $22.07 billion in 2010 -- down nearly 13 percent from the $25.33 billion they earned in 2009, but the third-best year for the ranking since it was first published in 2001.
The complete ranking and accompanying commentary can be found in the April issue of AR and online at www.absolutereturn-alpha.com.
Six individuals brought home more than $1 billion in 2010. John Paulson, the founder of Paulson & Co., was the top earner of 2010 with a record $4.9 billion. That exceeds the $3.7 billion he earned in 2007 after famously betting on the housing market collapse.
Since then, Paulson, whose firm managed $36 billion as of Jan. 1, 2011, has turned his attention to gold, which boosted his earnings significantly in 2010. Nearly 90 percent of Paulson's personal money is invested in either his gold fund, which returned more than 35 percent last year, or in the gold shares of his other funds.
Others who made the Rich List with more than $1 billion last year include Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, with $3.1 billion; Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, $2.5 billion; David Tepper of Appaloosa Management, $2.2 billion; Steve Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors, $1.3 billion; and Eddie Lampert, ESL Investments, $1.1 billion.
To be included on the list in 2010, a manager had to earn at least $210 million, down from $350 million in 2009.
"In 2001, the combined income of the top hedge fund managers was less than $5 billion -- about what Paulson alone made in 2010," said Michelle Celarier, editor of AR.
The full list of the top 25 managers of 2010 is available online now at www.absolutereturn-alpha.com.
About AR
AR Magazine, and its online offering at www.absolutereturn-alpha.com, is a thought leader for the hedge fund industry, delivering the most insightful, entertaining and authoritative published content about hedge funds online and in print. AR is a publication of Institutional Investor and HedgeFund Intelligence, divisions of Euromoney Institutional Investor, the international publishing and information company.
See www.absolutereturn-alpha.com for more information.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Michelle Celarier
AR Magazine
212-224-3021
mcelarier@absolutereturn.net
Melissa Mandel
Rubenstein Associates
212-843-8060