People

Seth Klarman

Seth Klarman

Formal First Name
Seth
Nick Name
Oracle of Boston
Dates
5/21/1957 - present

Seth Klarman is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Portfolio Manager of The Baupost Group, one of the largest hedge funds in the United States. He is an investment legend best known for his expertise in value investing. Klarman often makes unusual investments—he buys unpopular assets while they are undervalued, seeking a margin of safety and profiting from any rise in price. He also uses complex derivatives and buys put options. Klarman has been regularly featured in a variety of investment industry publications.

Professional Experience


Academic History

EARLY LIFE

  • Klarman gave an oral presentation to his fifth-grade class about the logistics of buying a stock.
  • He had a variety of small-time business ventures while growing up, including a paper route, a snow cone stand, a snow shoveling business
  • He purchased his first stock when he was 10 years old, one share of Johnson & Johnson; The stock split 3-for-1 and over time tripled his initial investment.
  • He bought a share of Johnson & Johnson because he had used a lot of band-aids during his earlier years.
  • At age 12, he was regularly calling his broker to get stock quotes.


CAREER

  • Klarman is a very conservative investor, and often holds a significant amount of cash in his investment portfolios, sometimes in excess of 50% of the total.
  • He is sometimes referred to as "the Warren Buffett of his generation".
  • Forbes listed Seth Klarman as one of the 25 Highest-Earning hedge fund managers in 2013.
  • His 2013 total earnings of $350 million rank him the 20th among the 25 top-earning hedge fund managers.
  • He has been an avid supporter of the teachings of Benjamin Graham.
  • He stresses the utility in the economy's business cycles and their predestined and perpetual self-corrective tendency.
  • Forbes listed his personal fortune at US$1.50 billion as of 2021.
  • He is the 15th highest-earning hedge fund manager in the world.


PRESENT APPOINTMENTS

  • Board of Directors of the Broad Institute
  • Chairman of The Klarman Family Foundation
  • Co-Chair of the Leadership Council of Facing History and Ourselves
  • Vice-Chair of the Board of Managers at Beth Israel Hospital
  • Board of Directors of the Broad Institute
  • Member of the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School


    AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS