| Paul Elliott Singer | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 22, 1944 New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Investor, philanthropist |
| Known for | Elliott Management |
Paul Singer (born August 22, 1944) is the founder and CEO of hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation and The Paul E. Singer Family Foundation.[1] Elliott's principle investment strategy is buying distressed debt cheaply and selling it at a profit or suing for full payment. Singer is a major donor to the Republican party. [2]
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Singer grew up in the New York City metropolitan area. He obtained a B.S. in psychology from the University of Rochester and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Singer then spent the next four years working for corporate law firms in New York and the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.[3]
In 1977, Singer founded Elliott Associates L.P., a hedge fund, with [USD]$1.3 million from friends and family. Elliott Management oversees Elliott Associates and Elliott International Limited, which together have more than $16 billion in assets under management.[4]
Some of Elliott’s distressed securities trading has been in sovereign debt, most recently those of Argentina and Congo-Brazzaville, through its association with the 'Kensington International' fund. In 1995, Elliott bought $20 million face value of defaulted Peruvian bank debt. After extensive litigation proceedings Elliott won a court award of $58 million for these debts, including past due interest. More recently Elliott bought $32.6 million in loan debt incurred by Congo-Brazzaville, allegedly for less than $2.3 million.[5] In 2002 and 2003 a British Court awarded Elliott more than $100 million for these debts, $39 million of which was subsequently recouped by interception of proceeds of the sale of oil by the Congo to Glencore International, a Swiss commodities and raw materials supplier.[6]
Paul Singer founded the Paul E. Singer Family Foundation, which supports many charitable projects including the Harvard Graduate School of Education Singer Prize for Excellence in Secondary Teaching and VH1 Save The Music Foundation, the Food Bank For New York City, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund, and the New York City Police Foundation.[7][8][9][10][11] In addition, Singer, whose gay son married his partner in Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal, has donated $425,000 of his own money and raised another $500,000 to support the drive for legalization of gay marriage in New York.[12]
Singer is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.[13] He serves on the Board of Advisors of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University and the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School.[14][15] He serves on the Board of Directors of Commentary Magazine.[16]
Singer is a member of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation.
Singer has been active in Republican Party politics and was a major contributor to George W. Bush's presidential campaigns.[17] In 2007, Singer led a financial industry fund-raising effort for Rudolph Giuliani, first as regional finance chair and later as senior policy adviser.[18]
In 2007, Singer provided $175,000 to support a petition drive for a proposed California initiative to apportion the state's 55 electoral votes by congressional district. At least 19 of the state's 53 congressional districts could be expected to vote for a GOP presidential candidate, enough to change the national results in a close election.[19]
President George W. Bush appointed Singer to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.[20]
In 2011, Singer played a major role in in passing legislation that would allow same-sex marriage in the state of New York by, along with other major GOP donors, throwing his support behind it.[21]
Singer has also been tied to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. [22]
Singer has written columns in the Wall Street Journal.[16] In August 2009, fellow hedge fund manager Jim Chanos said that he and Singer warned G7 finance ministers in 2007 that ‘a systemic financial collapse could happen because major banks were creating ‘radioactive’ securitizations from things like subprime mortgages.[23]
At a September 2006 financial conference in New York City, Singer delivered a speech called "Complexity Made Simple", advising that the purchase of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) was a serious mistake, anticipating the collapse of the housing market by nearly a year.[3]