When David Tepper speaks, markets (especially those short) quake as the sheep blindly follow him into the breach; so when he said he "was nervous" recently, bulls got scared (briefly). As PageSix reports this morning [5], Tepper is nervous once again as the world's highest paid fund manager has split with his wife of nearly 30 years. The split could well be the most expensive hedge fund divorce ever and we suspect comments such as this did not help... "What do you think I should do with it? . . . I could buy an island. I could buy a private jet . . . I could get myself a 22-year-old!"
Via PageSix's Emily Smith, [5]
David Tepper, the world’s highest paid fund manager for the past two years, has split with his wife of nearly 30 years, Page Six can exclusively reveal.
In what could be one of the most expensive hedge fund divorces yet, Tepper, 56, who runs $20 billion Appaloosa Management in Short Hills, NJ, and his wife Marlene have separated after 28 years of marriage, multiple sources confirmed.
We’re told David and Marlene, who married in 1986 and have three adult children, have yet to formally file for divorce. A source said, “They have separated and are telling friends the marriage has run its course. They hope to settle things quickly, quietly and amicably.”
But the split could prove extremely costly. Tepper, a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has an estimated net worth of $10 billion.
He is one of the most successful and respected managers in the hedge fund world, and after making a 2009 trade that netted his company $7.5 billion and himself a payday of nearly $4 billion, Tepper was quoted in New York Magazine saying: “What do you think I should do with it? . . . I could buy an island. I could buy a private jet . . . I could get myself a 22-year-old!”
The former Goldman Sachs exec was ranked the top-earning investor in 2012, earning a $4.4 billion paycheck. In 2013, Tepper — who famously has a pair of giant brass testicles on a plaque adorning the wall of his office — personally earned $3.5 billion.
As far as we know, Rupert Murdoch's split from his wife Anna in 1999 is the most expensive divorce ever at $1.7 billion... but at only half of what Tepper earned last year, we suspect this one could get ugly...