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| 9. O. Andreas Halvorsen / $370 million | ||
| Title: Co-founder and chief executive officerFirm: Viking Global Investors (Greenwich, Connecticut)Age: 542015 Rank: No. 9 (tied)2015 Earnings: $370 million2014 Rank: No. 92014 Earnings: $450 millionYears on list: 7 | Source of BA in economics, Williams College, 1986 | |
O. Andreas Halvorsen has emerged as one of the premier hedge fund managers of his generation. This was underscored in January, when the co-founder of Greenwich, Connecticut–based Viking Global Investors ranked fifth in London-based Leveraged Capital Holdings’ widely followed list of the greatest money managers of all time, thanks to Viking’s having made $22.5 billion for its investors since its 1999 inception. Last year’s results only boosted these returns, and the firm’s stature. In a rough year for many long-short managers, Halvorsen’s long-short fund, Viking Global Equities, posted an 8.3 percent gain. Viking Long Fund was up 4.5 percent, far outpacing the major market indexes. Viking Global Opportunities, a hybrid fund launched at the beginning of 2015, surged 15.3 percent in its first year of operation. The firm fared especially well with its shorts last year, driven by its largest positions, especially an unnamed energy short. Information technology and Internet-related companies drove performance among the longs. Its biggest gainers for the year were Allergan, Alphabet (parent of Google), Amazon.com and Broadcom. Halvorsen, who devotes much of his time to capital allocation, risk management and general strategic planning, tends to keep a low profile. However, the native Norwegian, who formerly served as a platoon commander on Norway’s SEAL team, can often be seen in January at the Davos, Switzerland, World Economic Forum. Last year he and his wife, Diane, played a major underwriting role for the “Van Gogh and Nature” exhibit at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where Halvorsen serves as chairman; he has been on Clark’s board of trustees since 2011. The investor is completing his five-year term on the board of trustees of his alma mater, Williams College, where he graduated in 1986.
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