Bruce Stanley Kovner (born 1945 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American businessman. He is the founder and Chairman of Caxton Associates, LLC, a hedge fund that trades a global macro strategy. Kovner is also the Chairman of the American Enterprise Institute, the premiere American neoconservative think tank. With an estimated current net worth of around $2.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 292nd-richest in the world.
Described as secretive even by family and friends, the 61-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 fathers' 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, he was a high achiever, becoming a Merit Scholar. He was the student-body president of Van Nuys High School at 16, and an accomplished basketball player. [citation needed]
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. [citation needed]
Kovner did not finish his Ph.D., having suffered a severe case of writer's block and overreached 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.
Kovner has three children. Among them are Rachel, who will be clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the 2007-2008 court term.
Business
Kovner's first trade was for $3,000, borrowed against his MasterCard, in soybean futures contracts. Realizing growth to $50,000, he 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.
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. [citation needed]
Kovner is 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
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 a primary funder of the expansion of Lincoln Center and the publisher of many works, including what some consider the finest modern illustrated bible. He is also founder and Chairman of the School Choice Scholarships Foundation, which awards scholarships to financially disadvantaged youth in New York City.
Kovner has contributed extensively to conservative causes. He is the Chairman of the board of trustees of the American Enterprise Institute, for which Caxton Associates manages most investments.[citation needed] 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 contribute to Kovner's insight into commodities markets worldwide. He is a major backer of the conservative Manhattan Institute and the daily, The New York Sun.
References
Forbes 2006 ranking
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Good stuff :)
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