John Paulson Net Worth

John Alfred Paulson is the founder and president of Paulson & Co., a New York-based hedge fund. Born in Queens, New York in 1955, Paulson grew up in a middle-class family, attended New York University's Stern School of Business, and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Paulson made history with what is widely considered the greatest trade ever executed on Wall Street. In 2007, he bet against the subprime mortgage market through credit default swaps, generating approximately $15 billion for his fund and $4 billion personally — more than George Soros made breaking the Bank of England.

Before the Big Short, Paulson was a relatively unknown merger-arbitrage specialist. After the trade, he became one of the most famous hedge fund managers in history. His subsequent career included large bets on gold and — notably — a significant position in Fannie Mae preferred shares. Paulson & Co. built a major stake in GSE (Government-Sponsored Enterprise) preferred stock, betting that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders would eventually see value restored following the 2008 conservatorship and the Third Amendment Net Worth Sweep. This GSE preferred bet represents one of the longest-running activist-style investment theses on Wall Street, with Paulson among the most prominent institutional holders.

In 2024, Paulson converted Paulson & Co. from a hedge fund to a family office, managing his personal wealth. He has been a major philanthropist, particularly in education and conservation.