Seth Klarman

Seth Klarman
Born (1957-05-21) May 21, 1957 [1]
New York City
Residence Brookline, Massachusetts [1]
Nationality United States
Alma mater Cornell University (B.A., 1979)
Harvard Business School (MBA, 1982)
Occupation Hedge Fund Manager
Known for Founder of the Baupost Group
Net worth Increase US$1.38 billion (January 2016)[2]
Spouse(s) Beth Klarman

Seth Klarman (born 1957)[3][4] is an American billionaire who founded the Baupost Group, a Boston-based private investment partnership, and the author of a book on value investing titled Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor.

Early life and education

Klarman grew up in a Jewish[5][6][7] family in Baltimore, where his father was a public health economist at Johns Hopkins University[8] and his mother taught high school English.[9] Klarman is a graduate of Cornell University where he was a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity and Harvard Business School[10] where he was a Baker Scholar and was classmates with Jeffrey Immelt, Steve Burke, Stephen Mandel and Jamie Dimon.

Career

Before founding Baupost, Klarman worked for Max Heine and Michael Price of the Mutual Shares fund (now a part of Franklin Templeton Investments). He founded the Baupost Group in 1982, which managed USD 22 Billion as of 2010.[11] Despite his unconventional strategies, he has consistently achieved high returns.[12] He is a very conservative investor, and often holds a significant amount of cash in his investment portfolios, sometimes in excess of 50% of the total.[13] He often makes unusual investments, buying unpopular assets while they are undervalued, using complex derivatives, and buying put options. Klarman typically keeps a low profile, rarely speaking in public or granting interviews. However, in 2006, he spoke pessimistically about the stock market and warned of future inflation.[14] He is sometimes referred to as "the Warren Buffett of his generation".[15]

In 1991, Klarman authored Margin of Safety, Risk Averse Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor, which since has become a value investing classic. Now out of print, Margin of Safety has sold on Amazon for $1,200 and eBay for $2,000.[16]

In 2014 Forbes listed Seth Klarman as one of the 25 Highest-Earning hedge fund managers in 2013. His 2013 total earnings of $350 million ranks him the 20th among the 25 top earning hedge fund managers.[17]

Philanthropy and politics

Klarman started The Klarman Family Foundation ($255 million in assets as of 2010) which donates to medical causes, Jewish organizations (such as the American Jewish Committee, Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Gann Academy), and Israeli causes. Klarman is the chairman of Facing History and Ourselves which develops classroom programs to combat anti-Semitism and bigotry.[5] Klarman also is active with the The Israel Project, a pro-Israel advocacy group that collects and provides information on Israel for journalists. He gave the organization $4 million between 2008 and 2010.[5]

Klarman also heavily donates to Republican groups and candidates.[5] Klarman is a major backer of political non-profits such as the Ending Spending Fund[18] and the pro-same-sex marriage American Unity Fund.[19] However, in the 2016 Presidential election he gave the maximum donation of $5,400 to Hillary Clinton's campaign, stating that "Donald Trump is completely unqualified for the highest office in the land.”[20]

Klarman is the key U.S. investor behind The Times of Israel, an online English-language newspaper which reports on Israel, the region and the Jewish world.[21][22]

Personal

Klarman is married to Beth Klarman.[5] Klarman is the brother of Harvard Law Professor Michael Klarman.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Klaravich Stables", National Thoroughbred Racing Association
  2. ↑ Forbes: The World's Billionaires: Seth Klarman April 2014
  3. ↑ http://archive.breederscup.com/bio.aspx?id=27293
  4. ↑ The Oracle of Boston; Seth Klarman. The Economist (US) July 7, 2012
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Jewish Daily Forward: "The Softspoken Man Behind Times of Israel - Famed Investor Seth Klarman Says Site Won't Pull Punches" By Josh Nathan-Kazis February 29, 2012
  6. ↑ Forbes Israel: Jewish Billionaires - Profile of Seth Klarman April 14, 2013 (in Hebrew)
  7. ↑ Times of Israel: "The Jewish Origins of Value investing" by Gabriele Grego December 8, 2014
  8. 1 2 "Herbert Klarman, 82, professor, health economist", The Baltimore Sun, June 19, 1999.
  9. ↑ Scott Cendrowski (February 15, 2012). "A hedge fund bets big on a Canadian mega quarry". CNN Money. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  10. ↑ Fabrikant, Geraldine. (2007, May 13). Manager Frets Over the Market, but Still Outdoes It. New York Times, Investment section. Accessed on 10-25-2008.
  11. ↑ Opportunities for Patient Investors, Financial Analysts Journal, Volume 66, Number 5, Seth A. Klarman and Jason Zweig
  12. ↑ Baupost's Klarman sees poor outlook for stocks Reuters, Aaron Pressman and Matthew Lewis. May 18, 2010
  13. ↑ The Wharton Journal 12/5/05
  14. ↑ Brett Arends (May 19, 2010). "Klarman: Why Investing Is Like Chess". Wall Street Journal.
  15. ↑ The Oracle of Boston, Economist
  16. ↑ The $700 Used Book. (2006, Aug. 7). BusinessWeek, Personal Finance section. Accessed 11-11-2008.
  17. ↑ Vardi, Nathan (Feb 26, 2014), "The 25 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers And Traders", Forbes
  18. ↑ Sullivan, Sean (16 April 2014). "Who funded the super PAC hitting Dem and GOP candidates? These three billionaires.". Washington Post. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  19. ↑ Confessore, Nicholas (26 April 2013). "Pushing the G.O.P. to Support Gay Rights". New York Times. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  20. ↑ Viser, Matt and Jan, Tracy (20 July 2016). "Donald Trump is at the wheel, and road looks rocky". Boston Globe. Cleveland. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  21. ↑ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-note-from-the-chairman/
  22. ↑ Nathan-Kazis, Josh (29 February 2012). "The Softspoken Man Behind Times of Israel". The Forward. Retrieved 17 March 2012.

Further reading

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