10 Richest Hedge Fund Managers in the World 2011

In 1949, Alfred Jones formed the first hedge fund in the world by hedging his long equity exposure with short positions.

His divergence from the long-only approach in the fund management world gave birth to the hedge fund industry, which today controls trillions of dollars.

Jones’ hedge fund concept eventually took off. The modern hedge fund industry began in earnest in the 1970s and 1980s. In those early days, it was dominated by a few global macro managers like George Soros. In the 2000s, quant funds -- those that used complicated algorithms to find profits – took the spotlight.

However, many quant funds did not fare so well during the financial crisis, and discretionary managers like John Paulson came to the forefront once again.

In the industry’s 60 plus years of history, a lot of managers have gotten fabulously wealthy. The following is the list of the 10 richest hedge fund managers in the world, according to Forbes’ annual list of billionaires in 2011.

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