John Paulson Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of John Paulson, hedge fund founder.
Personal
Birth date: December 14, 1955
Birth place: Queens, New York
Birth name: John Alfred Paulson
Father: Alfred Paulson
Mother: Jacqueline (Boklan) Paulson
Marriage: Jenica “Jenny” (Zaharia) Paulson (2000-present, separated)
Children: Giselle and Danielle
Education: New York University, B.S., Finance, 1978; Harvard Business School, M.B.A., 1980
Other Facts
Founder and president of investment firm Paulson & Co., Inc.
Became a billionaire in 2007 by shorting subprime mortgage securities after the housing crash.
Serves on the boards of many organizations and companies, including the Council of Foreign Relations, New York University and Bausch Health.
Timeline
1980-1982 – Consultant at Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm.
1982-1984 – Associate with Odyssey Partners.
1984-1988 – Managing director of mergers and acquisitions at Bear Stearns Companies, Inc.
1988-1994 – General partner with arbitrage firm Gruss Partners.
July 1994 – Paulson & Company, Inc. is established.
2009 – Paulson’s ability to foresee and profit from the 2007 housing market crash is explained in Greg Zuckerman’s book, “The Greatest Trade Ever Made.”
2009-2011 – Paulson’s charitable donations include $15 million to the Center for Responsible Lending, $20 million to New York University’s Stern School of Business and $15 million to build a maternity hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador, his father’s homeland.
2010 – Paulson’s $4.9 billion take-home salary sets a record for hedge fund industry earnings.
2011 – His fortune declines by $3 billion in 2011 after making bad trades. Paulson invests personal wealth in gold and earns $3.1 billion from 2010-2011.
October 23, 2012 – Donates $100 million to the Central Park Conservancy.
June 3, 2015 – Harvard announces that Paulson is donating $400 million to support its engineering school, which will be renamed after Paulson. It is the largest single gift in Harvard University’s history.
August 5, 2016 – Paulson is announced as one of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s economic advisers. Trump is elected president on November 8, 2016.
July 1, 2020 – According to a report from Bloomberg News, Paulson announces in a letter to investors that Paulson & Co., Inc is converting from a hedge fund firm to a private investment office.
July 7, 2022 – Jenny Paulson files a lawsuit against John, accusing him of hiding assets, so that she gets less in their divorce.
September 6, 2023 – Paulson’s former business partner, Fahad Ghaffar, files a lawsuit against Paulson, accusing him of fraud. In October 2024, the case is dismissed after a confidential settlement is reached.
October 16, 2023 – Paulson files a suit against Ghaffar, accusing him of embezzlement.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
