julian robertson was an american investor and former hedge fund manager best known for founding tiger management in 1980 which grew to be one of the most prominent hedge funds of its generation 
robertson closed the doors at tiger in 2000 and went on to mentor younger hedge fund managers and philanthropic ventures focusing on higher education and medical research during the 1980s and the early 90s robertson was often referred to as the father of hedge funds and the wizard of wall street investopedia julie bangearly life and educationjulian robertson was born in salisbury north carolina on june 25 1932 to julian hart robertson sr an executive of a textile company and homemaker blanche spenser robertson after graduating from episcopal high school in his hometown he went on to the university of north carolina and graduated in 1955 2following two years in the navy robertson joined the new york office of kidder peabody co as a retail broker in 1957 he climbed the firm s ranks and eventually took the helm of its asset management division known as webster securities robertson departed kidder peabody co for a year long sabbatical in new zealand in 1979 3notable accomplishmentswhile in new zealand robertson hatched the idea for a new fund he founded tiger management one of the first hedge funds upon his return to new york in 1980 robertson used initial assets believed to be approximately 8 million tiger s assets grew to 22 billion over the next two decades the fund s success is credited to robertson s ability to identify investment opportunities within the framework of a global macro trading strategy robertson frequently employed a long short strategy loading up on the best stocks he could find while shorting those he considered the worst 4julian robertson is credited with being the first major hedge funder and his success spawned numerous successful hedge fund investors in the late 1990s robertson was also known for his avoidance of tech investments during the buildup of internet stocks in the late 1990s this avoidance was a double edged sword for tiger management the fund performed well during the eventual collapse of the tech bubble but suffered from a drain of capital as investors took their money to silicon valley an additional stressor came from a significant investment in u s airways which did not go well for robertson 5 u s airways filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002 and again in 2004 6robertson liquidated the tiger management fund in 2000 following poor performance 7 he wrote that tiger s success had been based on a rational approach to valuation and trading this strategy had proven less effective alongside the irrational growth of internet stocks 8in the years that followed robertson focused his efforts on mentoring and investing with a slate of up and coming hedge fund managers known as the tiger cubs prominent members of this group include john griffin of blue ridge capital ole andreas halvorsen of viking global chase coleman of tiger global management and steve mandel formerly of lone pine capital 9101112wealth and philanthropyrobertson was active in philanthropic activities after turning away from fund management he founded scholarships at his alma mater and duke university and committed to the giving pledge a campaign launched by bill gates and warren buffet 13 robertson was also active in new zealand purchasing a handful of luxury lodges throughout the country 14forbes reported that robertson donated 1 3 billion to charitable causes among them include environmental protection charter schools and medical research as of april 5 2022 robertson was reportedly worth 4 8 billion 15 julian robertson died on august 23 2022 at the age of 90 at his home in new york who is the wizard of wall street julian robertson was a billionaire who made his money in hedge funds and was nicknamed the wizard of wall street due to his investment acumen 