John Paulson

John Paulson founded Paulson & Co. in 1994 after working at Gruss & Co. and Bear Stearns. The firm initially focused on merger arbitrage before expanding into event-driven and macro strategies. His legendary trade of 2007 involved purchasing credit default swaps on subprime mortgage securities, profiting enormously when the housing market collapsed. The trade, chronicled in Gregory Zuckerman's book "The Greatest Trade Ever," netted approximately $15 billion for his funds and $4 billion personally — the largest one-year profit ever made by a hedge fund manager at that time. After this peak, Paulson faced headwinds including gold investments that turned sour and declining performance, leading many investors to redeem. He converted Paulson & Co. to a family office in 2020, managing only his own capital.