Despite a tricky year for both stock markets and fund managers generally, some of the biggest names in the industry racked up major returns for 2018, according to the inaugural Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking for hedge fund managers.
James Simon of Renaissance Technologies led the way. The former code-breaker's quant fund racking up an insane $1.6 billion in income last year, increasing his net worth to $16.6 billion.
Unsurprisingly hedge fund titan Ray Dalio made the top 10 for 2018 with an income of $1.26 billion with his flagship Pure Alpha fund gaining 14.6% last year. His own fortune rose alongside Bridgewater Capital's approximate $160 billion of assets.
Citadel's Ken Griffin was in the news after the hedge-fund manager paid a staggering $240 million for a New York penthouse, just after picking up a London mansion for $122 million. Both these figures pale in comparison to the $870 million he brought in for 2018, taking his own personal fortune to around $10 billion.
The fourth and fifth highest earners were Two Sigma founders John Overdeck and David Siegel. Their quant fund saw each of them pick up $770 million in renumeration in 2018.
The year was the third consecutive 12 month period that more funds closed up shop than were started, but the biggest fund managers continued to hoover up opportunities, even as the S&P 500 ended the year down 4.4%.
Bluecrest's Michael Platt was the sixth highest earner, with $680 million. His fund returned a massive 25%. Meanwhile, David Shaw of D.E Shaw's quant/multi-strategy fund brought in $590 million.
Element Capital Management's Jeff Talpins became a billionaire for the first time in 2018 after his fund brought in $420 million with a return of 17%.
Chase Coleman of Tiger Global Management has a venture capital arm which helped to boost his fortune to $3.9 billion after earning $370 million last year.
In 10th position was Izzy Englander of Millennium, whose fund brought him in $340 million for 2018.
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