Hedge Fund and Private Equity Executives on the Forbes 400 List of Wealthiest Americans

Double-dip recessions, sovereign debt crises and political gridlock notwithstanding, it's been a good year for hedge fund billionaires.

Alternative investments players make up some 16% of this year's Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans. One of them even cracks the top 10: George Soros, who is now a retired hedge fund manager, did very well for himself in Soros Fund Management's last year of managing money for outside investors. Soros' fortune now totals $22 billion, up almost $8 billion from last year and good enough for seventh place on the list.

No other hedge fund or private equity honcho cracked that elite group, but 18 others made the top 100. And most of them boast larger fortunes than last year, some of them significantly larger.

Despite his miserable year, Paulson & Co.'s John Paulson remains the second-richest hedge fund manager in the country, with a $15.5 billion fortune, 17th on the list and $3.1 billion higher than a year ago. Dell Inc. and MSD Capital founder Michael Dell was one spot behind with $15 billion, followed by Soros' fellow retiree Carl Icahn in 25th place with $13 billion ($2 billion more than last year), Ronald Perelman in 26th with $12 billion ($1 billion more) and James Simons in 30th with $10.6 billion ($1.9 billion more).

Steven Cohen was 35th on the list with $8.3 billion ($1 billion more than last year), Ray Dalio 44th with $6.6 billion (up $1.6 billion), David Tepper in 60th with $5 billion (up $700 million) and Stephen Schwarzman and Sam Zell in 66th with $4.7 billion (up $600 million and $300 million, respectively). Another hedge fund retiree, Caxton Associates' Bruce Kovner, was in 74th place with $4.3 billion ($200 million more than last year).

Two alternatives players dropped off the list this year. Blackstone Group co-founder Peter Peterson has given away a huge chunk of his fortune over the past year, while Maverick Capital Management's Samuel Wyly, who just made the cut last year, fell short this year. Wyly is facing Securities and Exchange Commission fraud charges and this year lost his brother and business partner, Charles Wyly, in a car accident. 

(Source: FINAlternatives, Oct 3, 2011)

Hedge Fund and Private Equity Executives
on the Forbes 400 List of Wealthiest Americans

rank	billionaire	firm	net worth
7	George Soros	Soros Fund Management	$22 billion
17	John Paulson	Paulson & Co.	$15.5 billion
18	Michael Dell	MSD Capital	$15 billion
25	Carl Icahn	Icahn Enterprises	$13 billion
26	Ronald Perelman	MacAndrews & Forbes	$12 billion
30	James Simons	Renaissance Technologies	$10.6 billion
35	Steven Cohen	SAC Capital Advisors	$8.3 billion
44	Ray Dalio	Bridgewater Associates	$6.6 billion
60	David Tepper	Appaloosa Management	$5 billion
66	Stephen Schwarzman	The Blackstone Group	$4.7 billion
66	Samuel Zell	Equity Group Investments	$4.7 billion
73	Bruce Kovner	Caxton Associates	$4.3 billion
75	Daniel Ziff	Och-Ziff Capital Management	$4.2 billion
75	Dirk Ziff	Och-Ziff Capital Management	$4.2 billion
75	Robert Ziff	Och-Ziff Capital Management	$4.2 billion
86	Henry Kravis	Kohlberg Kravis Roberts	$3.7 billion
88	Robert Bass	Oak Hill Capital Management	$3.6 billion
91	John Arnold	Centaurus Energy	$3.5 billion
96	George Roberts	Kohlberg Kravis Roberts	$3.4 billion
107	Leon Black	Apollo Management	$3.2 billion
107	Ron Burkle	Yucaipa Cos.	$3.2 billion
107	Paul Tudor Jones	Apollo Management	$3.2 billion
117	Edward Lampert	ESL Investments	$3 billion
139	William Conway	The Carlyle Group	$2.7 billion
139	Daniel D'Aniello	The Carlyle Group	$2.7 billion
139	David Rubenstein	The Carlyle Group	$2.7 billion
150	Daniel Och	Och-Ziff Capital Management	$2.6 billion
159	Stanley Druckenmiller	Duquense Capital Management	$2.5 billion
159	Tom Gores	Platinum Equity	$2.5 billion
166	Julian Robertson	Tiger Management	$2.4 billion
171	Nicolas Berggruen	Alpha Investment Management	$2.3 billion
171	Kenneth Griffin	Citadel Investment Group	$2.3 billion
188	Philip Falcone	Harbinger Capital Management	$2.2 billion
188	Henry Hillman	Hillman Cos.	$2.2 billion
200	Israel Englander	Millenium Partners	$2.1 billion
200	Wilbur Ross	W.L. Ross & Co.	$2.1 billion
200	David Shaw	D.E. Shaw Group	$2.1 billion
227	David Bonderman	Texas Pacific Group	$1.9 billion
227	James Coulter	Texas Pacific Group	$1.9 billion
227	Alec Gores	Gores Technology Group	$1.9 billion
242	Leon Cooperman	Omega Advisors	$1.8 billion
242	Theodore Forstmann	Forstmann Little	$1.8 billion
260	George Argyros	Westar Capital	$1.75 billion
273	Glenn Dubin	Highbridge Capital Management	$1.6 billion
273	Noam Gottesman	Man Group	$1.6 billion
273	Bruce Karsh	Oaktree Capital Management	$1.6 billion
273	Howard Marks	Oaktree Capital Management	$1.6 billion
293	Stephen Mandel	Lone Pine Capital	$1.5 billion
293	Jonathan Nelson	Providence Equity Partners	$1.5 billion
293	Peter Thiel	Clarium Capital Management	$1.5 billion
309	Joshua Harris	Apollo Management	$1.45 billion
309	T. Boone Pickens	BP Capital	$1.45 billion
309	Marc Rowan	Apollo Management	$1.45 billion
312	Louis Bacon	Moore Capital Management	$1.4 billion
312	Thomas Lee	Lee Equity Partners	$1.4 billion
331	Richard Chilton	Chilton Investment Co.	$1.3 billion
331	Marc Lasry	Avenue Capital Management	$1.3 billion
331	Thomas Steyer	Farallon Capital Management	$1.3 billion
359	James Dinan	York Capital Management	$1.2 billion
359	C. Dean Metropoulos	Metropoulos & Co.	$1.2 billion
359	Nelson Peltz	Trian Partners	$1.2 billion
359	Henry Swicea	Highbridge Capital Management	$1.2 billion
375	Thomas Barrack	Colony Capital	$1.1 billion
375	John Henry	John W. Henry & Co.	$1.1 billion