David Tepper

David Alan Tepper (born on September 11, 1957) is an American hedge fund manager and the founder of Appaloosa Management. His investment specialty is distressed companies. In recent years he's become known as a philanthropist, his largest gift going to Carnegie Mellon University, whose Tepper School of Business is named after him. He earned his MBA (then known as an MSIA) from Carnegie Mellon in 1982.

High school and college

Tepper was raised in the East End of Pittsburgh in the city section known as Stanton Heights and attended Peabody High School in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the University of Pittsburgh he paid his way through school by working at the Frick Fine Arts library. He graduated with honors receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He also dabbled in the markets during college.

After graduation he entered the finance industry working for Equibank as a Credit Analyst in the Treasury department. In 1980, unsatisfied with this position he enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University's business school to pursue its then version of an MBA, a Master of Science in Industrial Administration (MSIA).

Career

After earning his MBA in 1982, Tepper accepted a position in the treasury department of Republic Steel in Ohio.

In 1984, he was recruited to Keystone Mutual Funds (now part of Evergreen Funds) in Boston, and in 1985, Tepper was recruited by Goldman Sachs, which was forming its high yield group. He joined the firm in New York City as a credit analyst. Within six months, Tepper became the head trader on the high-yield desk at Goldman where he worked for eight years. His primary focus was bankruptcies and special situations. He left Goldman in December 1992 and started Appaloosa Management in early 1993.

In 2001 he generated a 61% return by focusing on distressed bonds, and in the fourth quarter of 2005 he pursued what he saw as better opportunities in Standard & Poor's 500 stocks.^[1] He makes significant gains year after year by “investing in the diciest of companies,” such as MCI and Mirant. Investments in Conseco and Marconi also led to huge profits for the company’s hedge funds while Tepper “keeps the market on edge.” ^[2]

In 2009, Tepper's hedge-fund firm earned about $7 billion by buying distressed financial stocks (including acquiring Bank of America common stock at $3 per share) in February and March of that year and profiting from recovery of those stocks,^[3]with $4 billion of these profits going to Tepper's personal wealth. In March 2010, the New York Times reported that Tepper's success made him the top-earning hedge fund manager in the world in 2009,^[4] and in 2010 he was ranked by Forbes as the 258th richest person in the world.

Personal life

Tepper and his wife Marlene are the parents of three children.^[5] His personal interests include coaching his children’s baseball, softball and soccer teams.^[5] Tepper is a resident of Livingston, New Jersey.^[6] Tepper currently serves as a member of the Business Board of Advisors for the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon and serves on various boards and committees for charitable and community organizations in New York and New Jersey.^[7] On September 25, 2009, Tepper purchased a portion of the Pittsburgh Steelers.^[8] He is against teacher's unions.

Philanthropy

On March 19, 2003, Tepper announced that he would make a single donation of $55,000,000 to Carnegie Mellon University's business school (then called the Graduate School of Industrial Administration—GSIA).^[9] This donation was made after he had been encouraged by Kenneth Dunn, his former professor (who became dean of the school). Tepper accepted the suggestion but made the contribution a “naming gift” and suggested that the school's name be changed to the David A. Tepper School of Business.^[10]

Tepper also has made several large gifts to the University of Pittsburgh, including several endowed undergraduate scholarships and support of academic centers and university-run community outreach programs.^[11] David A. Tepper and wife Marlene have pledged $3.4 million to Rutgers University - Mason Gross School of the Arts, the alma mater of his wife. ^[12]

References

1. ^ Fridson, Martin (March 2, 2006). "Too Many Dollars?". “Distressed Debt Investor” Article. Fridson Vision LLC. http://www.fridsonvision.com/sample/DDI_030204.pdf. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
2. ^ "Turning Heads on Wall Street" (PDF). (Reprint of Article. The Wall Street Journal). Carnegie Mellon University. April 14, 2004. Archived from the original on 2006-06-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20060628202202/http://wpweb2.tepper.cmu.edu/magazine/pdfs/winter04.pdf. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
3. ^ Zuckerman, Gregory (December 21, 2009), "Fund Boss Made $7 Billion in the Panic", Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126135805328299533.html 
4. ^ Schwartz, Nelson D.; Story, Louise (March 31, 2010). "Pay of Hedge Fund Managers Roared Back Last Year". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01hedge.html. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Foley, Stephen (22 December 2009). "$2.5bn pay packet for fund manager". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/25bn-pay-packet-for-fund-manager-1847227.html. Retrieved 22 December 2009. 
6. ^ "Seven-figure donation fuels emergency campaign", United Jewish Communities of MetroWest. Accessed February 24, 2011. "Chief among them is the gift of David Tepper of Livingston, who donated $1 million from the David A. Tepper Charitable Foundation. Tepper, a hedge-fund manager, made the pledge last month at a parlor meeting in the Short Hills home of Steven and Lori Klinghoffer."
7. ^ "About David Tepper". David Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon. http://web.tepper.cmu.edu/tepper/about.aspx. Retrieved 22 December 2009. 
8. ^ Bouchette, Ed (September 24, 2009), "Steelers close deal to add new owners", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09267/1000588-100.stm 
9. ^ Bradshaw, Della (May 17, 2004). "Dean profiles Working for $1 a year". Business Schools Ranking (Financial Times). http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ad892d78-0264-11d9-be60-00000e2511c8,dwp_uuid=87d49024-21b2-11d8-81c6-0820abe49a01.html. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
10. ^ "But can you teach it?". Special Report - Business schools (The Economist). May 20, 2004. http://www.economist.com/business/globalexecutive/education/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2685892. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
11. ^ "Pitt to Induct Six Donors Into Cathedral Of Learning Society". Pitt Chronicle (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh). 2008-06-23. http://www.chronicle.pitt.edu/?p=1499. Retrieved 2009-12-22. 
12. ^ "Pitt to Induct Six Donors Into Cathedral Of Learning Society". Pitt Chronicle (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh). 2008-06-23. http://www.chronicle.pitt.edu/?p=1499. Retrieved 2009-12-22. 

12. http://support.rutgers.edu/s/896/Foundation/GiveStories.aspx?sid=896&gid=1&pgid=1839

Sources

• Reuters staff (March 16, 2006). "Dissident Delphi investor challenges board". The Boston Globe (Reuters). http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/03/16/dissident_delphi_investor_challenges_board/. Retrieved 2006-08-17. ^{[dead link]}
• Forbes staff (November 2005). "#645 David Tepper". The Worlds Billionares (Forbes magazine). http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/MM4Q.html. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
• Editorial staff (March 29, 2004). "How To Rebuild A B-School". Management (Businessweek). http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_13/b3876107_mz056.htm. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
• staff (2006). "America's Most-Generous Donors". List the 2004 Pledges. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. http://philanthropy.com/stats/donors/2006/detail.php?ID_Gift=1384. Retrieved 2006-08-17. ^{[dead link]}
• Tepper magazine staff (Fall 2004). "A kid from Peabody High School" (PDF). Feature (Carnegie Mellon University): pp. 6. Archived from the original on 2006-06-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20060628201750/http://wpweb2.tepper.cmu.edu/magazine/pdfs/fall04.pdf. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
• Guinto, Joseph (September 1, 2004). "To MBA or Not to MBA, That is the Question". Business Feature (American Way magazine). http://www.americanwaymag.com/aw/business/feature.asp?archive_date=9/1/2004. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
• Web staff (August 17, 2006). "David Tepper Bio". Tepper School of Business. Archived from the original on 2006-07-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20060715154846/http://business.tepper.cmu.edu/tepper/press_david.aspx. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 
• CM Today magazine staff (June 2006). "Wall Street Wizard David Tepper “learns it, earns it and returns it”". Top Stories (Carnegie Mellon University). http://www.carnegiemellontoday.com/article.asp?Aid=70. Retrieved 2006-08-17. 

External links

• Named Investment Guru of 2010
• David Tepper Portfolio with stock Picks
• David Tepper's Appaloosa Stock Portfolio, updated quarterly
• Tepper school official website
• "David Tepper Hedge Fund Manager Appaloosa Management," aTrader, May 4, 2010
• "Investor David Tepper goes where others don't dare", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 22, 2009
• "Ready to be Rich," (September 26, 2010 profile in New York Magazine)
• "Fund Boss Made $7 Billion in the Panic", The Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2009

Persondata
Name	Tepper, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 11, 1957
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death