Leon Cooperman

Leon Cooperman grew up in the South Bronx in a working-class family and earned his MBA from Columbia Business School. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1967 and eventually became head of investment research, a position he held from 1976 to 1991. In 1991 he left Goldman to found Omega Advisors, a value-oriented hedge fund that grew to manage approximately $10 billion. Cooperman's investment approach combined deep fundamental value analysis with event-driven and special situations investing. He is known for concentrated, high-conviction positions and for his willingness to take large stakes in undervalued companies. Omega Advisors settled SEC charges in 2017 for $4.9 million — the SEC alleged Cooperman used material non-public information when trading Omega Healthcare Investors shares; Cooperman denied wrongdoing. He converted Omega to a family office in 2018, returning outside investor capital. Cooperman has been a prolific and outspoken CNBC commentator on markets, the Federal Reserve, and fiscal policy. He has been known for his blunt views on taxation — publicly disputing proposals to increase taxes on the wealthy while simultaneously signing the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of his fortune to charity. He is known for substantial philanthropy to education in New Jersey.