Michael Novogratz

Michael Edward "Mike" Novogratz (sometimes Novo,[1] born November 26, 1964) is a principal and director at the investment firm Fortress Investment Group.[2] He is an advocate for the sport of wrestling on the global stage. He was ranked a billionaire by Forbes in 2007 and 2008.

Prior to joining Fortress, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs where he spent lots of time working abroad including leadership roles in Asia and Latin America. Novogratz is a 1987 graduate of Princeton University, where he was a member of the wrestling team. He was a Virginia state runner-up in high school wrestling. He served in the U.S. Army National Guard after college. His siblings include Jacqueline Novogratz and Robert Novogratz.

Early life and family

Raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Novogratz is the son of West Point football lineman and 1958 Knute Rockne Award (best lineman) winner Robert, Sr.[3] He attended Fort Hunt High School.[4] Novogratz was state of Virginia high school wrestling runner-up before serving as Princeton Wrestling captain.[3] Novogratz was first team All-Ivy League in both 1986 (150-pound (68.0 kg)) and 1987 (158-pound (71.7 kg)).[5] He qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) wrestling championships in both 1986 and 1987 (both at 150-pound (68.0 kg)).[6] Novogratz earned his A.B. in economics.[7] At the NCAA wrestling championships, he made it to the round of 12.[8]

His sister Jacqueline Novogratz is founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, while his brother Robert Novogratz is a designer who has been profiled in the Bravo television series 9 by Design.[2] Another brother John Novogratz is a senior managing partner at Millenium Partners.[9]

Career

After a stint in the New Jersey National Guard that included service as a helicopter pilot, Novogratz began his career with Goldman Sachs in 1989.[3][10] On April 1, 1989,[11] he joined the firm as a short-term bond (money market) salesman.[3] Novogratz lived in Asia from 1992 to 1999.[12] He took a salesman position for Goldman in Tokyo in 1992,[11] and eventually Jon Corzine sent him to Hong Kong to run a trading desk for the firm.[3][11] He was elected partner at Goldman in 1998.[7] Among the positions that he held at Goldman were president of Goldman Sachs Latin America and the head of fixed income, currencies and commodities risk in Asia.[13]

In March 2002,[12] Novogratz joined Fortress Investments in time to join Wesley Edens, Robert Kauffman, Randal Nardone and Peter Briger, Jr. in taking the company public through its February 9, 2007, initial public offering.[1][3] During the IPO, the company sold an 8% share to the public for $600 million.[10] Before assuming his current roles at Fortress as principal and director of Fortress Credit Corporation in 2006, he served as Co-Chief Information Officer of Macro Funds at Fortress Investment Group LLC.[12] Although Fortress' domain includes both hedge funds and makes private-equity investments, Novogratz and his fellow Princetonian Briger run the hedge funds.[1] Although the stock price had escalated to $35 at its IPO, by December 3, 2008, it dipped to as low as $1.87 after withdrawals from Novogratz' Drawbridge Global Macro fund were shut off.[1]

New York Governor David Paterson appointed Novogratz to sit on the Hudson River Park Trust's board of directors in 2010.[2] He serves as a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Investment Advisory Committee on Financial Markets.[7] Novogratz is the chairman and founder of Beat the Streets, a non-profit organization which fosters the sport of wrestling in New York City public schools.[7] He also serves on the board of the Acumen Fund, NYU Langone Medical Center, Princeton Varsity Club, Boards of Creative Alternatives of New York, PAX, the School for Strings, and The Jazz Foundation of America.[7][12] He founded and serves as the chairman of the board of the School for Strings.[12] He is also the honorary chairman of USA Wrestling Foundation and the chairman of The Friends of the Hudson River Park.[12]

Personal

In 2006, he bought Robert De Niro's $12.25 million duplex in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood.[3] When he moved into De Niro's former residence, Mickey Rourke moved into Novogratz' former Meatpacking district residence.[2] He was college roommates with Richard Tavoso, head of global arbitrage and trading at RBC Capital Markets.[3][14] He and his wife Dora "Sukey" Caceres have four children.[2][10] They also own a home in Amagansett.[10]

He has been a booster for the U.S. National Wrestling Team and an official spokesman for USA Wrestling.[3][14] He was named the 2010 USA Wrestling Man of the Year and an Outstanding American by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007.[8] When the International Olympic Committee cut Olympic Wrestling from the 2020 Summer Games, he campaigned for the sport's return.[14]

Following the February IPO, which also brought Edens, Kauffman, Nardone and Briger billionaire status, Novogratz ranked #407 in the March 2007 Forbes list of world billionaires with a net worth of $2.3 billion, including his 66.6 million shares of Fortress Investments.[15] In September 2007, Novogratz was listed at #317 on the Forbes 400 with a net worth of 1.5 billion dollars.[16] He was ranked 962 on the March 2008 Forbes list of world billionaires with a net worth of $1.2 billion.[17] By 2012, after the decline of Fortress' stock price, his net worth had shrunk to $500 million.[3] He supports Democratic political interests.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 McLean, Bethany (April 2009). "Over the Hedge". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Anderson, Lincoln (June 30 – July 6, 2010). "A ‘master of the universe’ will wrestle with Pier 40 and park". The Villager. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Clark, Patrick (2012-06-13). "Fortress Chieftain Mike Novogratz Wrestles with Olympians, Youth…and Wall Street". New York Observer. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  4. ↑ The Freshman Herald: Class of 1987. Student Employment Office and Student Agencies. 1983. p. 98.
  5. ↑ "Ivy League Honors". Princeton University. 2012-08-20. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  6. ↑ "Princeton Wrestlers At The NCAA Championships". Princeton University. 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2013-09-28.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Board of Directors: Michael E. Novogratz". Fortress Investment Group. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Abbott, Gary (2011-06-12). "Mike Novogratz named USA Wrestling Man of the Year". The Mat. USA Wrestling. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  9. ↑ "Richard Gere Finds a Buyer". Gawker. 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Michael Novogratz". Gawker. 2008-01-25. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Mike Novogratz, President of Fortress Investment Group" (video). Opalesque.tv. 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 "Executive Profile: Michael Edward Novogratz". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2013-09-27.
  13. ↑ Barth, Chris (2010-11-29). "Get Briefed: Michael Novogratz". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Browning, Lynnley (2013-04-05). "Wrestling’s Private Equity Champion". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  15. ↑ "The World's Billionaires: #407 Michael Novogratz". Forbes. 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  16. ↑ "#317 Michael Novogratz". Forbes. 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  17. ↑ "The World's Billionaires: #962 Michael Novogratz". Forbes. 2008-03-05. Retrieved 2013-09-21.