Julian Robertson

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Julian H Robertson Jr (1933- ) was born in Salisbury, North Carolina in the United States. Robertson founded the investment firm Tiger Management Corp. He is credited with turning $8 million in start-up capital in 1980 into over $22 billion in the late 1990s, though that was followed by a fast downward spiral that ended with the funds' closing in 2000.

In 1993, his compensation and share of Tiger's mammoth gain reportedly exceeded $300 million. His 2003 estimated net worth was over $400 million. As of 2005, his net worth is estimated at $900 million [1].

The Tiger funds reached a peak of $22 billion in assets in 1998. However, because of poor stock picking and failure to exploit the technology stock craze, Robertson suffered large losses at the end of the decade. When the Standard and Poor's 500-stock index climbed 21 percent in 1999, the Tiger funds declined 19 percent.

Tiger's largest equity holding at that time was U.S. Airways, whose troubles dragged down the value of his holdings. Such missteps ultimately led him to close his investment company in March 2000 and liquidate its remaining $6 billion in investments. Tiger earlier faced huge losses due to their trades against the yen in 1998.

Robertson is a native of North Carolina. He graduated from Episcopal High School in 1951 and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1955. While at Chapel Hill, he was admitted to Zeta Psi fraternity. He then served as an officer in the U.S. Navy until 1957. He worked for a time as a stockbroker for Kidder Peabody & Co.

Today, Julian Robertson is an active philanthropist and serves on a number of organization and university boards. He is the founder and benefactor of the Robertson Scholars Program which awards a merit scholarship that provides 4-year full-tuition and travel funding for 36 Duke and University of North Carolina students each year. He remains a staunch supporter in the campaign to stop global warming. He also is active as an investor and developer in New Zealand, where he spends much of his time.