Bruce Kovner
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Bruce Stanley Kovner (born February, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American businessman. He is the founder and Chairman of Caxton Associates, LLC, a hedge fund. Bruce Kovner is also the Chairman of the American Enterprise Institute, the premiere American neoconservative think tank which advises the Bush administration on many day-to-day issues. With an estimated current net worth of around $2.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 292-richest person in the world
Described as secretive even by family and friends, the 60-year old divorcee is perhaps one of the least known New York City billionaires outside of professional circles.
Biography
Bruce Kovner's family came to Brooklyn, New York, in the early 1900s from Tsarist Russia, fleeing persecution for their Communist beliefs. Two of Kovner's father's cousins faced the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, pleading the Fifth Amendment. However, Bruce's father, Moishe Kovner, was more conservative than his kin, at one point even crossing a picket line to work.Bruce Kovner grew up in the San Fernando Valley, where his father had moved the family in 1953. Early on, Bruce Kovner was a high achiever, becoming a Cub Scout and, later, a Merit Scholar. He was the student-body president of Van Nuys High School at 16, and an accomplished basketball player.
Kovner went to Harvard College starting in 1962, a time marred by the hanging suicide of his mother back in his family's Van Nuys home. Nonetheless, he was considered a good student and was well liked by his classmates. Avoiding the Vietnam draft by student deferment (when it was still available), Kovner stayed in Harvard, studying political science closely under prominent conservative scholar Edward C. Banfield, who reportedly had great faith and admiration for the young Kovner.
Unfortunately, Kovner did not finish his Ph.D., with common knowledge implying that he had suffered a severe case of writer's block and had overreached himself in his choice of subject matter. Over the next few years, he engaged in a number of eclectic efforts; he worked on political campaigns, studied the harpsichord, was a writer, and a cab driver. It was during the latter occupation, not long after his marriage to now ex-wife Sarah Peter, that he discovered commodities trading.
In 1998, Bruce Kovner was divorced from Sarah Peter, with whom he has two adult daughters, Rachel and Katherine.
Business
Bruce Kovner's first trade was for $3,000, borrowed against his MasterCard, in soy bean futures contracts. Realizing growth to $50,000, Bruce then watched the contract drop to $22,000 before selling. He later claimed that this first, nerve-racking trade taught him the importance of risk management.Through a combination of ability and intelligence, Bruce Kovner, in his eventual role as a trader under the legendary Michael Marcus at Commodities Corporation (now part of Goldman Sachs), made millions and gained widespread respect as an objective and sober trader. This ultimately led to the establishment of his current company, Caxton Associates, in 1983, which today manages over $10 billion in capital and is closed to new investors.
His personal fortune over $2.5 billion, Bruce Kovner is nonetheless not well known outside of professional circles. He has very rarely given interviews, and is notoriously private. His 5th Avenue Mansion in New York City features a lead-lined room to protect against a chemical, biological, or dirty bomb attack.
Philanthropy and Politics
Despite his secretive ways, Bruce Kovner's attitudes and opinions may be deduced from his actions.A patron of the arts and a particular devotee of opera, Kovner is an avid collector of rare books and classical music manuscripts and has given millions to art projects and art institutions, notably the Juilliard School (of which he is Chairman). He is the primary funder of the expansion of Lincoln Center and the publisher of many works, including what some consider the finest modern illustrated Christian bible. He is also founder and Chairman of the School Choice Scholarships Foundation, which awards scholarships to financially disadvantaged youth in New York City.
Bruce Kovner has contributed extensively to conservative and right wing causes. He is the Chairman of the conservative American Enterprise Institute, for which Caxton Associates manages most investments. His close acquaintances include Vice President Dick Cheney, neoconservative figures Richard Perle and James Q. Wilson, as well as a wide range of government officials from all over the world - relationships which many consider a large part of Kovner's sharp insight into commodities markets worldwide. He is a major backer of the conservative Manhattan Institute and the incipient right leaning daily, The New York Sun, for which his daughter Rachel is a reporter.
Reference
External links
- [In-Depth Article about Bruce Kovner]
- [Bruce Kovner Interviews and Trading Strategies]
- [Summary of Kovner's trading principles]
- [Bruce Kovner Information: HedgeFundsInvesting.com]
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