John Paulson

Not to be confused with John Paulsen.
John Paulson
Born
John Alfred Paulson

(1955-12-14) December 14, 1955 (age 68)
New York City, U.S.
EducationNew York University (BA)
Harvard University (MBA)
Known forFounder of Paulson & Co.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Jenny Zaharia
​
​
(m. 2000; sep. 2021)​
Children2 daughters

John Alfred Paulson (born December 14, 1955) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager. He leads Paulson & Co., a New York–based investment management firm he founded in 1994.[1] He has been called "one of the most prominent names in high finance",[2] and "a man who made one of the biggest fortunes in Wall Street history."[3]

His prominence and fortune were made in 2007 when he earned almost $4 billion and was transformed "from an obscure money manager into a financial legend"[3] by using credit default swaps to effectively bet against the U.S. subprime mortgage lending market. In 2010, Paulson earned $4.9 billion.[4] The Forbes real-time tracker estimated his net worth at $3 billion as of January 2023.[1]

A Donald Trump supporter, Paulson was a major donor to Trump's 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential campaigns. Trump has publicly floated Paulson as a potential Secretary of the Treasury should he win the 2024 election.[5]

  1. ^ a b "Forbes profile: John Paulson". Forbes. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  2. ^ DE LA MERCED, MICHAEL J. (October 23, 2012). "Central Park Draws a Huge Gift From a Fan in High Finance". New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b "John Paulson's Very Bad Year" By Sheelah Kolhatkar| businessweek.com| 28 June 2012
  4. ^ Wachtel, Katya (April 4, 2011). "The Top 25 Hedge Fund Earners In 2010". Business Insider. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  5. ^ "Trump floats billionaire Paulson as potential Treasury chief, Bloomberg reports". Reuters. 2024-03-14.