- Paul Tudor Jones
Paul Tudor Jones II (born September 28, 1954,
Memphis, Tennessee ) is a well-knowncommodity trader. Having made $750 million in 2006, he is worth an estimated $2.5 billion, and was ranked by "Forbes " in March 2007 as the 369th richest person in the world.cite web | title=#369 Paul Tudor Jones II | work=The World's Billionaires | date=2007-03-08 | publisher=Forbes.com | url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_Paul-Tudor-Jones-II_L6IH.html | accessdate=2007-04-16]Business life
Jones attended
Memphis University School and thenUniversity of Virginia , earning an undergraduate degree in economics in 1976 as well as awelterweight boxing championship. cite web | title= Paul Tudor Jones| work=The Wall Street 100 | date=1990-07-10 | publisher=www.streetstories.com | url=http://www.streetstories.com/ptj_fw_top100.html | accessdate=2007-11-17]In 1976 he started working on the trading floors as a clerk and then became a broker for
E.F. Hutton . In 1980 he went strictly on his own for two and a half profitable years, but "really got bored." He then applied toHarvard Business School , was accepted, and packed to go when the idea occurred to him that: "this is crazy, because for what I'm doing here, they're not going to teach me anything. This skill set is not something that they teach in business school."Fact|date=July 2008He consulted his cousin, William Dunavant Jr., for advice. Dunavant, whose Dunavant Enterprises is the world's largest cotton merchant, sent Jones down to New Orleans to talk with commodity broker Eli Tullis, who hired and mentored him to trade cotton futures at the
New York Cotton Exchange .Jones later said:
"He was the toughest son of a bitch [Eli Tullis] I ever knew. He taught me that trading is very competitive and you have to be able to handle getting your butt kicked. No matter how you cut it, there are enormous emotional ups and downs involved." [ [http://www.michaelcovel.com/archives/000909.html Paul Tudor Jones insights] from
MichaelCovel.com ]In 1980 he founded Tudor Investment Corporation which is today a leading asset management firm headquartered in
Greenwich, Connecticut . The Tudor Group, which consists of Tudor Investment Corporation and its affiliates, is involved in active trading, investing and research in the global equity, venture capital, debt, currency and commodity markets.One of Jones' earliest and major successes was predicting Black Monday in 1987, tripling his money during the event due to large short positions.cite web | title=#382 Paul Jones II | work=The World's Richest People | date=2006-03-08 | publisher=Forbes.com | url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/L6IH.html | accessdate=2007-04-16]
Jones uses a
global macro strategy when trading in some of his funds. This strategy can be seen in the 1987PBS film "TRADER: The Documentary". [cite news | title = "Long Distance Dealing| url = http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=40acacba91c3d45c635baf3d0b5ac72abeca0a6a |publisher = New York Times | date = (2007-10-13) | accessdate = 2007-11-17] The film shows Mr. Jones as a young man predicting the 1987 crash using methods similar to market forecasterRobert Prechter .Although the video was shown on public television in November 1987, very few copies exist. Those that do are hoarded by traders who watch the hourlong movie in the hope of gleaning possible trading tips from Jones. On the Internet, bids for the video start at $295. According to Michael Glyn, the video’s director, Jones requested in the 1990s that the documentary be removed from circulation. [cite news | title = "The Man Who Won as Others Lost" | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/business/13speculate.html?_r=3&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |publisher = New York Times | date = (2007-10-13) | accessdate = 2007-11-17]
Jones' firm currently manages $17.7 billion (as of June 1, 2007). Their investment capabilities are broad and diverse, including global macro trading, fundamental equity investing in the U.S. and Europe, emerging markets, venture capital, commodities, event driven strategies and technical trading systems.
Trading style and beliefs
As reported in "
Market Wizards ", Jones futures trading style and beliefs are summarized as follows cite web | title=Paul Jones II | work=Paul Tudor Jones | date=2006-03-08 | publisher=moneymastersdirect.com | url=http://home.netvigator.com/~raymondo/MMD_Paul_Tudor_Jones.htm | accessdate=2007-11-17] :* Contrarian attempt to buy and sell turning points. Keeps trying the single trade idea until he changes his mind, fundamentally. Otherwise, he keeps cutting his position size down. Then he trades the smallest amount when his trading is at its worst.
* Considers himself as a premier market opportunist. When he develops an idea he pursues it from a very-low-risk standpoint until he has been proven wrong repeatedly, or until he changes his viewpoint.
* Swing trader, the best money is made at the market turns. Has missed a lot of meat in the middle, but catches a lot of tops and bottoms.
* Spends his day making himself happy and relaxed. Gets out if a losing position is making him uncomfortable. Nothing’s better than a fresh start. Key is to play great defense, not great offense.
* Never average losers. Decreases his trading size when he is doing poorly, increase when he is trading well.
* He has mental stops. If it hits that number, he is out no matter what. He uses not only price stops, but time stops.
* Monitors the whole portfolio equity (risk) in realtime.
* He believes prices move first and fundamentals come second.
* He doesn’t care about mistakes made 3 seconds ago, but what he is going to do from the next moment on.
* Don't be a hero. Don't have an ego. Always question yourself and your ability. Don’t ever feel that you are very good. The second you do, you are dead.
Philanthropy
Jones is the founder of the
Robin Hood Foundation , an organization dedicated to fighting poverty inNew York City . He also formed a $125 millioncommodity pool with LBO executiveRay Chambers , called the One to One Charitable Fund, that devoted most of its profits to helping disadvantaged children.He is the Chairman of the Board of the Excellence Charter School, the country's first all-boys charter school, located in the
Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood ofBrooklyn, New York .He owns Grumeti Reserves in
Tanzania ’s WesternSerengeti and was recently lauded by the East African country’s Parliament for not permitting hunting in his reserve.Fact|date=April 2007Jones has been working with Tanzania and Paul Milton of Hart Howerton, a London architectural firm that specializes in large-scale land use, to develop regional plans for the sustainability of the area, its wildlife and its local communities.He has also made large donations to his
alma mater , theUniversity of Virginia , including a $20 million donation which went to the construction of a new basketball arena, namedJohn Paul Jones Arena in honor of his father. [ [http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=30414&pid=1591 John Paul Jones Arena] ]Jones is a director of the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation andThe Everglades Foundation .Personal life
Jones has been married to his wife, Sonia, a former Australian fashion model, since 1988. They have 4 children. [ [http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2001/jones-oct-29-2001.html $20 Million Gift From Alumnus Paul Tudor Jones Puts U.Va. Basketball Arena Project On The Fast Track] ] [ [http://www.streetstories.com/ptj_fw_top100.html Paul Tudor Jones and Tudor Investment] ] Jones' father, John Paul Jones, was an attorney who attended the
University of Virginia .References
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