David Tepper is one of the world’s most successful and influential hedge fund managers.
He also owns two professional sports teams: the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer (MLS).
He is known for his bold and profitable investments in distressed debt and his generous philanthropic donations to education and health causes.
He has been ranked among the richest people in the world by Forbes magazine, with a net worth of over $14 billion as of 2021.
Profile
| Full Name: | David Alan Tepper |
| Age | 67 years old |
| Born: | September 11, 1957 |
| Place of Birth: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Nationality: | American |
| Height: | 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) |
| Parents: | Harry Tepper, Roberta Tepper |
| Siblings: | Scott Tepper, Sheryl Weitman |
| Spouse: | Marlene Tepper (ex-wife), Nicole Bronish (current wife) |
| Relationship status: | Married |
| Children: | Brian Tepper, Casey Tepper, Randi Tepper |
| Profession: | Hedge fund manager, sports team owner |
| Net Worth: | $14.5 billion |
Early Life and Education
David Tepper, now 67, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1957.
He grew up in a middle-class Jewish family, with his father working as an accountant and his mother as an elementary school teacher. He has a brother and a sister who are younger than him.
He attended Peabody High School, where he excelled in academics and sports.
He was the president of his class and played on the football, basketball, and baseball teams.
He graduated in 1975 and enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where he majored in economics.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978 and joined the accounting firm of Price Waterhouse as a credit analyst.
He later returned to the University of Pittsburgh to pursue a Master of Business Administration degree, which he completed in 1982.
He then joined the investment bank of Goldman Sachs as a credit analyst and later became the head of the junk bond trading desk.
Personal Life
David Tepper married Marlene Tepper, a fellow University of Pittsburgh graduate, in 1986.
They had three children together: two sons, Brian and Rand, and a daughter, Casey.
They lived in Livingston, New Jersey, where they were active Jewish community members.
They also founded the David Tepper Charitable Foundation, which supports various causes such as education, health, and animal welfare.
However, their marriage ended in divorce in 2016, after 30 years of being together. The divorce was reportedly amicable, and they remained on good terms.
David Tepper married Nicole Bronish, a former hedge fund employee, in 2019.
They reside in Miami Beach, Florida, where they bought a mansion for $73 million in 2018.
Career
David Tepper’s career as a hedge fund manager began in 1993 when he founded Appaloosa Management, a global hedge fund specializing in distressed debt investing.
He started the fund with $57 million of his own money and four employees.
He quickly earned a reputation as a savvy and fearless investor who could spot undervalued opportunities and make huge profits.
He also became known for his aggressive and outspoken style, often challenging the management of the companies he invested in. Some of his most notable investments include:
- Buying the debt of Enron, the energy giant that collapsed in 2001, and making a profit of over $1 billion.
- Buying the debt of Conseco, the insurance company that filed for bankruptcy in 2002, and making a profit of over $500 million.
- Buying the debt of Delphi, the auto parts supplier that filed for bankruptcy in 2005, and making a profit of over $2 billion.
- Buying the debt of Bank of America, the largest bank in the US, during the financial crisis of 2008 and making a profit of over $7 billion.
- Buying the debt of American Airlines, the largest airline in the US, during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and making a profit of over $1 billion.
David Tepper’s career as a sports team owner began in 2018 when he bought the Carolina Panthers, an NFL team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, for $2.3 billion.
He became the sole owner of the team, which was previously owned by a group of investors led by Jerry Richardson, who sold the team amid allegations of sexual and racial misconduct.
Tepper vowed to make the team more competitive and inclusive and hired a new coach, Matt Rhule, in 2020.
He also bought the Charlotte FC, an MLS team that will debut in 2022, for $325 million.
He plans to build a new stadium for both teams in downtown Charlotte, and to expand the fan base and the community outreach of the teams.
Awards
David Tepper has received several awards and honors for his achievements and contributions, such as:
- Being named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2012.
- Being inducted into the Institutional Investor’s Alpha’s Hedge Fund Hall of Fame 2016.
- Being awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy by the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 2017.
- Being ranked as the 41st richest person in the world by Forbes magazine in 2021.
Controversy
David Tepper has faced controversy and criticism in his career, mainly due to his aggressive and outspoken personality and involvement in controversial investments.
Some of the instances of controversy are:
- In 2009, he was accused of insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly using confidential information from a former Goldman Sachs employee to trade the debt of Delphi. He denied the allegations and settled the case without admitting or denying wrongdoing, paying a fine of $1.1 million.
- In 2014, he was criticized by some of his peers and the media for moving his hedge fund and his residence from New Jersey to Florida to avoid paying higher taxes. He defended his decision, saying that he was not motivated by tax savings but by personal and professional reasons. He also said he still paid taxes in New Jersey and contributed to the state’s economy and society.
- In 2018, he was sued by his ex-wife, Marlene Tepper, for allegedly hiding assets and income during their divorce proceedings. She claimed that he had undervalued his hedge fund and sports teams and transferred millions of dollars to offshore accounts and trusts. He denied the claims and said that he had been fair and transparent in the divorce settlement, which gave her half of his net worth at the time.
Social Media
- Instagram handle: N/A
- Twitter handle: N/A
Net Worth
According to Forbes magazine, David Tepper’s net worth is estimated to be $14.5 billion.
He is the richest person in North Carolina and the second-richest NFL team owner after Paul Allen, the late co-founder of Microsoft.
He is also the 11th-richest hedge fund manager in the world.
