John Paulson- Biography
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John Paulson is a hedge fund manager and investor best known for founding the New York-based investment business ‘Paulson & Co.’ His father, who worked as the CFO of a local corporation called ‘Ruder Finn,’ had instilled in him a keen sense of business. Following his graduation from high school, John started his import-export business, but it failed. He enrolled in business school at ‘New York University.’ John later resumed his studies at ‘Harvard Business School,’ where he received his MBA. Paulson began working as a consultant with ‘Boston Consulting Group in 1980. He eventually worked in a couple of corporations’ mergers and acquisitions departments before establishing his own investment firm, ‘Paulson & Co.,’ in 1994. He set a hedge fund record in 2010 by earning $5 billion in a single year.
John Paulson- Birth, Age, Ethnicity, Siblings, Education
On December 14, 1955, in Queens, New York, John Alfred Paulson was born to Alfred G. Paulson (born Alfredo Guillermo Paulsen) and Jacqueline. He was the third of his parents’ four children. His father was Ecuadorian, while his mother was European-Jewish. He grew up with his older sister, Theodora, who now works as a biologist in Israel.
The family lived in Queens, New York City, and the children attended public schools in the area. Since the commencement of his formal education, John has excelled in academics. He followed in his father’s footsteps and showed strong business understanding. His father was orphaned when he was fifteen and relocated to Los Angeles, California when he was sixteen. Alfredo began his career in the United States Army and rose through the ranks to become the CFO of the public relations business ‘Ruder Finn.’
John started his own business but soon realized that he wasn’t ready for it and decided to return to school. He enrolled in business school at ‘New York University.’ He graduated from university as valedictorian in 1978. He was awarded a scholarship to study MBA at ‘Harvard Business School,’ where he graduated as a George F. Baker scholar in 1980.
John Paulson- Professional Career
He came to Ecuador to start his first business before continuing his education. John established an import-export company in Quito and began exporting children’s clothing to New York. He worked hard only to discover that the business was not as prosperous as he had imagined, so he returned to New York City to finish his college studies. Following his post-graduate studies at ‘Harvard,’ he began working as a consultant with the ‘Boston Consulting Group.’ He spent a few years there before realizing that the real money was on ‘Wall Street.’ He left the ‘Boston Consulting Group’ to work for ‘Odyssey Partners.’ He eventually joined ‘Bear Stearns,’ where he worked in the company’s acquisitions and mergers department. He also worked for ‘Gruss Partners LP,’ where he eventually became a partner.
John got enough expertise working at several companies throughout the 1980s to be able to launch his own venture in the early 1990s.
He founded ‘Paulson & Co.’ in 1994 with a $2 million investment and a single employee. Given the nature of the investment business he was starting, the capital was somewhat little. He established his office in Manhattan. John worked hard and amassed assets worth $300 million in a decade. His firm specialized in event-driven investments (mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, proxy challenges, and so on) and generated large profits for him over the years.
When John and his firm predicted the impending subprime mortgage catastrophe, they reached the maximum pinnacle in 2007 and invested in credit default swaps. He bet against mortgage-backed securities and shorted the housing market in the United States. This deal alone made John a fortune, and he earned more than $4 billion in just one year. It is regarded as one of the most profitable transactions in American history.
In 2010, he made a remarkable $5 billion in hedge funds in a single year. He also endured setbacks on various occasions. In the early 2010s, he made some loss-making investments in Bank of America, Citigroup, and Sino-Forest Corporation. The company’s flagship fund, ‘Paulson Advantage Fund,’ also failed in the early 2010s. John is reported to have profited from his gold investments. He has remained one of the most successful investors in ‘Wall Street history.
John has contributed to both the ‘Democratic Party and the ‘Republican Party.’ He has been a supporter of President Donald Trump and was one of his main economic advisors throughout his ‘Presidential Campaign’ in 2016. He has also made numerous charitable contributions totaling millions of dollars. John gave $15 million to the ‘Center for Responsible Lending’ in the early 2010s. He has also given millions of dollars to ‘New York University’s Stern School of Business,’ ‘Southampton Hospital,’ and the ‘London School of Economics.’
In 2012, he gave $100 million to the ‘Central Park Conservancy,’ the non-profit organization that looks after New York’s iconic ‘Central Park.’ He gave $400 million to ‘Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences’ in 2015.
John Paulson- Relationship, Married Life
In the year 2000, John Paulson married Jenny Zaharia. They have two daughters. The family resides in Manhattan, New York, on the Upper East Side.
John avoids the media and only conducts interviews on rare occasions. He also avoids social media and lives a low-key existence.
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