Funds Hub
Money managers under the microscope
Subprime master Paulson’s Midas touch
Hedge fund managers may get a lot of stick in these troubled times, but there are some that more traditional investors may want to listen to.
John Paulson, for example.
The 53 year-old American, no relation of Hank, is having a good financial crisis. In 2007 he pulled off one of the most lucrative gambles in investment history — amassing a personal fortune of nearly $4 billion betting against the sub-prime mortgage sector.
We all know what happened next. Millions of small homeowners defaulted on their mortgages, and the world was plunged into financial near-meltdown. Paulson, on the other hand, has bought a $41 million 10 acre luxury estate in billionaires’ playground the Hamptons.
So what is the guru doing now? Well, earlier in the week it was announced that funds controlled by his company Paulson & Co had paid $1.3 billion for a stake in a firm called AngloGold Ashanti.
