State’s billionaires got richer amid pandemic
A record-setting run on Wall Street helped most of the 14 billionaires who call Connecticut home increase their net worth over the past year even as the coronavirus pandemic brought massive job losses, according to new data from Forbes.
Ray Dalio of Greenwich, founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and the richest person in Connecticut, saw his net worth jump from $18 billion in 2020 to $20.3 billion in 2021, Forbes World’s Billionaire’s List shows. The 71-year-old was No. 88 overall on the billionaires list.
Most of Connecticut’s other billionaires have also made their fortunes investing, so it’s not surprising they saw significant gains in wealth as the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 stock indexes all recovered from their coronavirus-driven plunges and ended 2020 higher than they started the year.
The second-richest person
in Connecticut, Steve Cohen, another hedge fund manager from Greenwich, saw his net worth increase from $13.9 billion in 2020 to $16 billion in 2021, according to Forbes. Cohen, 64, who runs Point72 Asset Management in Stamford, is perhaps better known as the new owner of the New York Mets, and fans of the franchise hope he can use some of his money to turn the team’s fortunes around.
Here’s howConnecticut’s other 12 billionaires fared.
Alexandre Behring, 54, of Greenwich, co-founder and manager partner of the 3G Capital investment firm in New York, saw his net worth increase from $4.3 billion in 2020 to $7 billion in 2021.
Andreas Halvorsen, 59,
of Greenwich, who runs Viking Global Investors in his hometown, saw his net worth increase from $4.8 billion to $6.3 billion.
Karen Pritzker, 63, of Branford, granddaughter of the founder of the Hyatt hotel chain and the industrial conglomerate Marmon, maintained her net of $4.9 billion from 2020-2021.
Stephen Mandel Jr., 65, of Greenwich, founder of Lone Pine Capital, another Greenwich-based hedge fund, saw his net worth increase from $2.8 billion to $3.9 billion during the past year.
Christian Haub, 56, of Greenwich, CEO of Tengelmann Group, a German-based retail giant, maintained his net worth of $3 billion from 2020-2021.
Bradley Jacobs, 64, of Greenwich, founder and CEO of XPO Logistics, a commercial transportation
company headquartered in Greenwich that arranges for the home delivery of heavy goods like washing machines and refrigerators, nearly doubled his net worth, from $1.5 billion in 2020 to $2.9 billion in 2021.
Vincent McMahon, 75, of Greenwich, chairman and CEO of Stamfordbased World Wrestling Entertainment, saw his net worth increase from $1.9 billion in 2020 to $2.1 billion in 2021.
Mario Gabelli, 79, of Greenwich, founder of Gamco Investors, a New York-based firm, increased his net worth by $300 million from $1.5 billion in 2020 to $1.8 billion in 2021.
Peter Buck, 90, of Danbury, co-founder of the Subway sandwich shop chain, saw his net worth increase from $1.4 billion in 2020 to $1.7 billion in 2021.
Alexandra Daitch, 58, of
Old Lyme, and Lucy Stitzer, 61, of Greenwich, each grew their net worth from $1.3 billion in 2020 to $1.7 billion in 2021. Thesisters acquired their wealth through inherited stake in Cargill, one of the largest food and agriculture companies in the world that was founded by their great-grandfather.
Clifford Asness, 54, of Greenwich, co-founder of AQR Capital Management in Greenwich, was the lone Connecticut billionaire to lose moneyfrom2020-2021. His net worth decreased from $2.6 billion in 2020 to $1.4 billion in 2021.
All 2,755 billionaires on Forbes’ list, from across the world, saw their collective net worth jump to $13.1 trillion in 2021, up from $8 trillion in 2020.