John Paulson — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

President at Paulson & Co., an investment management firm.
Founded Paulson & Co. in 1994 with $2 million and one employee.
Earned almost $4 billion in 2007 by using credit default swaps to bet against the U.S. subprime mortgage lending market.
Earned $4.9 billion in 2010.
Estimated net worth at $3.8 billion as of August 2025.
Graduated valedictorian summa cum laude in finance from New York University (1978) and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School (1980).

Biography

John Alfred Paulson (born December 14, 1955) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager. He is the president of Paulson & Co., a New York-based investment management firm he founded in 1994 with $2 million and one employee. The firm specializes in "event-driven" investments, including mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs.

Paulson gained significant financial recognition in 2007 when he earned almost $4 billion by using credit default swaps to effectively bet against the U.S.